# British odometers **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 10, 2000, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-odometers/7338 "2000-02-10T21:32:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2000, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-odometers/7338/1 "2000-02-10T21:32:00Z")
In an early-1980s book entitled _The Joy of Lex_, the author mentions that what Americans call an odometer, Brits call a “mileometer”. But since Great Britain has been using the metric system exclusively for several decades now, shouldn’t it be called a “kilometerometer”? ---
**Author:** ![TomH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/90db22/32.png) [@TomH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TomH)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2000, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-odometers/7338/2 "2000-02-11T12:09:00Z")
The book’s right, we call it a “mileometer”. We don’t use the metric system exclusively. A quick breakdown is: Imperial: long distances (i.e. miles); draught beer in pubs. Metric: everythhing else. ---
**Author:** ![RussellM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed8c4c/32.png) [@RussellM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RussellM)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2000, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-odometers/7338/3 "2000-02-11T13:41:00Z")
TomH > [@](#): > > We don’t use the metric system exclusively. > > A quick breakdown is: > > Imperial: long distances (i.e. miles); draught beer in pubs. > > Metric: everythhing else. I could be showing my age, but I think a lot of people are still Imperial for more than miles and pints. I know my height and weight in feet and stones, and I know the nearest post box is about 400 yards away from my house. Many things are still measured in inches (6" average springs to mind). My primary class was the first in my school to be taught both metric and imperial (starting in 1971) - and the imperial has stuck better than the Napoleonic measurements. My wife, on the other hand, is the same age as me, but has no real idea what 400 yards means, because, I think, she was taught metric measurements all the way through school. Russell ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2000, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-odometers/7338/4 "2000-02-11T14:10:00Z")
Being raised in America, we had Imperial units engrained before the great Metric experiment. About the only impact Metric training did here was create the 2-liter (litre) soft drink bottle. The first time I drove in Canada, it took a little while to get used to the speeds in Metric. Driving through a school zone, a sign said “School Zone, Speed 50”. I thought, “Fifty? Sure, that’s the least I can do!” * * * What would Brian Boitano do / If he was here right now / He’d make a plan and he’d follow through / That’s what Brian Boitano would do. ---
**Author:** ![TomH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/90db22/32.png) [@TomH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TomH)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2000, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-odometers/7338/5 "2000-02-11T14:17:00Z")
Russell, You are quite right. Another example is temperature. The Met Office went over to Celcius/Centigrade years ago, but newspapers still seem to use Fahrenheit (as in “60… 70… 80… Phew, What a Scorcher!”). I don’t speak from personal experience, but I understand that cannabis is sold in ounces and cocaine in grams. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2000, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-odometers/7338/6 "2000-02-14T06:23:00Z")
RussellM wrote: > [@](#): > > I could be showing my age, but I think a lot of people are still Imperial for more than miles and pints. > > I know my height and weight in feet and stones, and I know the nearest post box is about 400 yards away from my house. You British people use _STONES?!_ Well, I guess you couldn’t just use Pounds, like we Americans do. You’d get them confused with your currency. (Pshaw, like a “Pound Sterling” is still worth anywhere close to a pound of Sterling silver anymore!) * * * The truth, as always, is more complicated than that. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2000, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-odometers/7338/7 "2000-02-14T06:28:00Z")
Not that a “pound” of Sterling silver was the same kind of pounds we Americans use, either. Silver, like most precious metals, is measured in Troy weights – a “pound” of silver would be a pound _Troy_, which is 12 ounces Troy, as opposed to the normal “pound avoirdupois,” which is 16 ounces avoirdupois. Remember, kids: A “pound” of gold weighs less than a pound of feathers! ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2000, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-odometers/7338/8 "2000-02-14T21:08:00Z")
No, the British, pre-metric, mostly used pounds. However, the stone, 14 pounds, continued in common use for one purpose – weighing human beings – even though it had otherwise become obsolete. ## The stone is also responsible for the fact than an Imperial hundredweight (cwt) is 112 pounds (8 stone) and an Imperial ton is 2240 pounds, rather than the American 100 pounds and 2000 pounds. (Sometimes the Imperial measures were called “long” or “gross”, and the American “short” or “net”.) John W. Kennedy “Compact is becoming contract; man only earns and pays.” – Charles Williams ---
**Author:** ![BIGmatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a698b9/32.png) [@BIGmatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BIGmatt)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2000, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-odometers/7338/9 "2000-02-16T11:37:00Z")
Yep, RussellM is right, in Britiain we still use imperial measurements for loads of stuff. I’m only 17 and I know my weight and height in stones and feet, not kilos and metres, so it’s not as if it’s only the older generations that still use imperial. I dunno why but if someone goes “How tall ARE you?” I don’t say “193 centimetres” I say “6 foot 5”. In fact, I actually did give my weight in metric once and the other person said “Yeah, but what’s that in stones?”. So it’s not just me either!! 🙂 That’s another thing that I want to know: Why are shoe sizes 1 size bigger in the US than in the UK? Can anyone answer this puzzle? * * * “You can have the afternoon off when you die” - Edmund Blackadder ---
**Author:** ![BIGmatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a698b9/32.png) [@BIGmatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BIGmatt)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2000, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-odometers/7338/10 "2000-02-16T11:39:00Z")
Whoops, that should be ‘Britain’ not ‘Britian’ ---
**Author:** ![RussellM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed8c4c/32.png) [@RussellM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RussellM)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2000, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-odometers/7338/11 "2000-02-16T15:00:00Z")
The apparently well named Bigmatt said > [@](#): > > Yep, RussellM is right, in Britiain we still use imperial measurements for loads of stuff. I’m only 17 and I know my weight and height in stones and feet, not kilos and metres, so it’s not as if it’s only the older generations that still use imperial. > I dunno why but if someone goes “How tall ARE you?” I don’t say “193 centimetres” I say “6 foot 5”. > > … > > That’s another thing that I want to know: > > Why are shoe sizes 1 size bigger in the US than in the UK? Can anyone answer this puzzle? I believe that dress sizes are smaller in the US than UK. Mostly based on _Pretty Woman_ rather than personal experience. If Julia Roberts wore a size 6 dress in the UK as she does in the movie (the first shopping scene), she would be hosiptalised. Russell p.s. BigMatt - you appear to have shrunk by almost 2 inches between measurements, and 2 inches can make a big difference. And another thing - I’m not too keen on this _older generation_ thing. I may have grey hair and be twice your age, but I am a long way from being an older generation. I’m sure you will understand soon enough yourself. ---
**Author:** ![RussellM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed8c4c/32.png) [@RussellM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RussellM)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2000, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-odometers/7338/12 "2000-02-16T15:04:00Z")
oops. _italics on_ italics off ---
**Author:** ![Keeves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f05b48/32.png) [@Keeves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeves)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2000, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-odometers/7338/13 "2000-02-17T06:41:00Z")
Hey, I am very impressed. For years I’ve been suffering with this inferiority complex because my fellow Merkins are too lazy to learn metrics, and now I can finally take comfort that the Brits are not much better. Oh, and now I finally understand what a “long ton” is. Thanx.