# Does the UK use metric system?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-uk-use-metric-system/721123
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [May 29, 2015, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-uk-use-metric-system/721123 "2015-05-29T15:11:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2015, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-uk-use-metric-system/721123/21 "2015-05-30T00:17:23Z")
> [@mascaroni](#):
>
> FiveLive… Saturday mornings, starts around 9:30: Famous people are asked about their choice of condiment on a sausage sandwich.
>
> It really shouldn’t be utterly compelling listening but…
That is what the metric system has brought us to. It should be whole grain mustard.
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### Author:  [@The\_Angry\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Angry_Badger)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2015, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-uk-use-metric-system/721123/22 "2015-05-30T00:45:12Z")
> [@bob\_2](#):
>
> I admit to using inches though as they seem to me to be a more useful measure for smaller things, but centimetres or inches, it isn’t that important. Anything at all scientific is exclusively metric.
I tend to use imperial when I’m guesstimating or just doing rough measurements. As soon as I need to measure something properly, I switch to metric. I just find imperial easier for rough guesses - I can easily look at something and say ‘yeah, that’s about five foot’, but still can’t really visualise metres that well. It’s a result of my upbringing, I guess.
Really, the UK is a mess with this - in what other country would you be able to buy food in 454g measures? Another one is if you’re buying sheets of, say, plywood. They come in 2440 x 1220mm sheets. C’mon, really? They’re 8’ x 4’, just admit it. :rolleyes:
I reckon it’s going to be another 20 years or so before we’re properly switched over, and that’s even without converting our road system to km - that’s going to be massively expensive and a huge mess, so I have no idea when that will ever happen.
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### Author:  [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2015, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-uk-use-metric-system/721123/23 "2015-05-30T01:39:18Z")
> [@JustinC](#):
>
> I find many websites will ask for your height/weight in decimal, and the younger people will know those off pat. Maybe they’re just better at using both systems, but when I can real off imperial measurements and hesitate to convert to decimal/metric, they can give their height and weight in metric and often don’t know what a stone is. For example my ideal weight is 13 stone, which is …er …82.5538 Kilograms, which just sounds wrong.
>
> 82? 83 pounds is 5.9 stones and _really_ unhealthy. 13 stones is nicely between 12 and 14; 12 hours in the daytime, joints in your fingers, months in the year, star signs. I can be a bit over 12 and it’s okay, 13 is ideal (and the imperial system allows for a bit of discrepancy), 14 is a bit much, 15 is just being really not good, 16 is a lard arse. In decimal those are 79 Kg to 101! Now I’m enormous and in three figures or healthy and only in two - 99 Kg is just over 15 and 1/2 stone. For me that would be blubberly, but at least I’m not in three figures, eh?
>
> YMMV or YKMV of course.
Pounds are best for losing weight, stones for gaining them. “I lost 70lb, but I put 5 stone back on”.
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### Author:  [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2015, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-uk-use-metric-system/721123/24 "2015-05-30T02:25:21Z")
Why do people in the UK measure wight using stones and in the US weight is measured using pounds? And why do metric system users measure weight in kilograms rather than newtons, when kg are a unit of mass rather than weight?
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### Author:  [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2015, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-uk-use-metric-system/721123/25 "2015-05-30T05:14:48Z")
Americans use metric system for energy content of food : calories (please do not nitpick I know it is kilo-calories). Americans also use Metric for bullet calibers - 9 millimeters 🙂
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2015, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-uk-use-metric-system/721123/26 "2015-05-30T08:19:36Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#):
>
> Why do people in the UK measure wight using stones
Inertia of comfortable tradition. Expressing an amount in a scale that, for common values, remains in single or low double digits is nice and easy, so once established, is a hard habit to break.
“nine stone twelve” has a sort of easy verbal flow to it that “sixty-two kilograms” doesn’t.
Same for human heights - “five foot nine” has a ring to it that “one hundred and seventy-five centimetres” (or “one metre seventy-five” or “one point seven five metres”) seems to lack.
Of course, that’s entirely subjective, but that’s what humans are.
> [@](#):
>
> And why do metric system users measure weight in kilograms rather than newtons, when kg are a unit of mass rather than weight?
Because it works, and most of us never travel to other planets where the distinction makes a difference.
The answer to any of these questions is nearly always that the system has to be used by humans, who will always find their own balance between what is best, and what is most convenient.
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### Author:  [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2015, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-uk-use-metric-system/721123/27 "2015-05-30T09:11:55Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#):
>
> And why do metric system users measure weight in kilograms rather than newtons, when kg are a unit of mass rather than weight?
Maybe what they’re measuring is, in fact, mass; they simply erroneously call it “weight”.
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### Author:  [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2015, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-uk-use-metric-system/721123/28 "2015-05-30T09:22:54Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#):
>
> And why do metric system users measure weight in kilograms rather than newtons, when kg are a unit of mass rather than weight?
The kilogram predates the newton by nearly 150 years, and roughly 99.9% of us do not ever need to treat weight and mass differently.
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### Author:  [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2015, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-uk-use-metric-system/721123/29 "2015-05-30T10:46:35Z")
> [@Mangetout](#):
>
> “nine stone twelve” has a sort of easy verbal flow to it that “sixty-two kilograms” doesn’t.
Heh, we’ve done this in temperature, now weight. Next up: someone claiming a 15mm spanner would be more readily described as “a slightly less than 5/8 inch” spanner.
[http://www.carolynrelei.com/inchchart.htm](http://www.carolynrelei.com/inchchart.htm)
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### Author:  [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2015, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-uk-use-metric-system/721123/30 "2015-05-30T12:08:51Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#):
>
> The first time I visited the UK (I’m American), I had it all figured out. I’d rent my car, get the whole “driving on the left” thing squared away and then head out on the A4 from London to where I was going. I figured that 100 kph was about 65 mph, so I’d stay at about that speed until I really got the feel of things. However, I did notice that I was flying by almost everyone on the road, and wondered why they were all driving so slowly. Oh, wait, it’s not kph, it’s mph… 😃
When my wife and I honeymooned in Montreal, we went to the top of Mont Royal. We then called a cab to go back to our hotel. It was a rather harrowing ride down, akin to a thrill ride at an amusement park. I peered over the driver’s shoulder and read the speed. I then said to my wife, “I know kilometers are smaller, but isn’t 100 kph still pretty fast on a winding parkway?”
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### Author:  [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2015, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-uk-use-metric-system/721123/31 "2015-05-30T12:12:29Z")
> [@Cugel](#):
>
> Next up: someone claiming a 15mm spanner would be more readily described as “a slightly less than 5/8 inch” spanner.
I’ve seen Americans make exactly that sort of claim, seriously.
Here in Australia, we use the metric system, but some US/Imperial units are widely understood. We know what feet and inches are, for instance, but temperatures usually need translation.
(Obviously it’s different for everyone and I’m making a generalisation, but this is the SDMB so someone will be along to pointlessly dispute what I just wrote any second now.)
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2015, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-uk-use-metric-system/721123/32 "2015-05-30T12:14:58Z")
> [@Cugel](#):
>
> Heh, we’ve done this in temperature, now weight. Next up: someone claiming a 15mm spanner would be more readily described as “a slightly less than 5/8 inch” spanner.
> [http://www.carolynrelei.com/inchchart.htm](http://www.carolynrelei.com/inchchart.htm)
I am not claiming any kind objective superiority of one form of words over another. I was explicit about that.
Habit and tradition are subjective things, but in the specific case of feet/inches for human heights, and stone/pounds for human weights, I think it is not hard to see why people were comfortable with non metric measures.
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2015, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-uk-use-metric-system/721123/33 "2015-05-30T12:53:47Z")
> [@Shakester](#):
>
> Here in Australia, we use the metric system, but some US/Imperial units are widely understood. We know what feet and inches are, for instance, but temperatures usually need translation.
100% agree.
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2015, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-uk-use-metric-system/721123/34 "2015-05-30T15:21:13Z")
Celsius/centigrade isn’t really any more or less ‘metric’ than Fahrenheit. It’s a red herring in this discussion.
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### Author:  [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2015, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-uk-use-metric-system/721123/35 "2015-05-30T15:35:15Z")
> [@Mangetout](#):
>
> Celsius/centigrade isn’t really any more or less ‘metric’ than Fahrenheit. It’s a red herring in this discussion.
Celsius/centigrade is not fully metric, that’s true, but at least it is more “metric” than Fahrenheit in the sense that a temperature difference of 1 °C is the same as one of 1 Kelvin; and Kelvin is, in fact, the metric (i.e., SI) unit of temperature. When absolite temperatures, rather than temperature differences, are needed, then conversion from Celsius to Kelvin is necessary, but trivial.
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### Author:  [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2015, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-uk-use-metric-system/721123/36 "2015-05-30T15:43:25Z")
It’s a sort of mix and match depending on what’s required for legal purposes and what people psychologically internalise as a comprehensible approximation to the size/quantity they want. For exact measurements and legal pricing, you might need 1200mm of a piece of timber, but you know the sort of shape and size you want as four-by-two. So that’s what you order.
(Just as in countries that have been metric for much longer, you will still hear mention of old quantities, like “une livre”,“une pouce”, “ein Pfund”, although what they’ll get is the metric quantity they approximate to).
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2015, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-uk-use-metric-system/721123/37 "2015-05-30T16:16:06Z")
> [@Malden\_Capell](#):
>
> I:
>
> - read temperature in Celcius
> - weigh food in grams and kilos
> - but sometimes use imperial because of online American recipes
> - weigh myself in stone
> - measure my height in feet
> - measure short horizontal distances in metres and centimetres
> - measure long horizontal distances in miles
> **- measure my waist in inches**
>
> So make of that what you will 😃
Emphasis added. Of course. 38 sounds a LOT better than 97!! 😃
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### Author:  [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2015, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-uk-use-metric-system/721123/38 "2015-05-30T16:43:33Z")
Variations of these posters, by U.S. citizens, presumably, float around the net: [Imgur: The magic of the Internet](http://imgur.com/CEfdGs0) and the more succinct [Imgur: The magic of the Internet](http://imgur.com/UuytFlO).
Liberia, Myanmar, and America, goddamnit.
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### Author:  [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2015, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-uk-use-metric-system/721123/39 "2015-05-30T16:47:33Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#):
>
> It’s a sort of mix and match depending on what’s required for legal purposes and what people psychologically internalise as a comprehensible approximation to the size/quantity they want. For exact measurements and legal pricing, you might need 1200mm of a piece of timber, but you know the sort of shape and size you want as four-by-two. So that’s what you order.
Wine and liquor in the U.S. generally comes in metric sizes, but many (if not most) people still ask for a fifth (750 ml) or a half gallon (1.75 l).
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### Author:  [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2015, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-uk-use-metric-system/721123/40 "2015-05-30T16:51:20Z")
> [@Schnitte](#):
>
> … the metric (i.e., SI) unit of temperature. …
I may be reading this wrong, but are you saying _all_ SI units are metric or are fully commensurate with metric at a fundamental level?
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