# How do you feel about converting to the Metric system? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 23, 2023, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-converting-to-the-metric-system/978666 "2023-01-23T15:52:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 23
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-converting-to-the-metric-system/978666/441 "2023-10-22T16:09:47Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Oops, temps are up to 60 60C? You’re going to die!! 😲 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-converting-to-the-metric-system/978666/442 "2023-10-22T16:16:00Z")
I recall a humanitarian organization (based in the US, of course) that developed a blanket that, once heated, would stay at just above human body temperature for a long time (it was based on a wax that melted at that temperature). Keeping a constant temperature like that is very valuable for medical treatment of sick infants, and these blankets required very little infrastructure to work, so they could be used anywhere in the developing or undeveloped world. They designed the blankets with a marker, in color-changing dye, that said “100º”, to indicate when they were warmed up enough. And, unsurprisingly, nobody wanted to put their babies anywhere near the things, because obviously a blanket that hot would kill a baby. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-converting-to-the-metric-system/978666/443 "2023-10-22T18:10:48Z")
You cannot convert to the metric system, it is not a religion! You are merely asked to adopt it. Like a child. You don’t even have to love it. Just accept that it is better that way. For everyone. It may make you feel good. > [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > The most popular sport in the metric world (football/soccer) uses yards instead of meters. Maybe in Great Britain, but surely not on the Continents (the Continents include Europe, Africa, South-America, Asia…). What the [Brits](https://schumanchu.eu/html/l/l_00102incontinentia.html) call the 12 yard spot, we call the 11 m penalty kick. [And so on.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Fu%C3%9Fballfeld_mit_Ma%C3%9Fen_und_Beschreibung.svg) ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-converting-to-the-metric-system/978666/444 "2023-10-22T18:48:58Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > > [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > > > The most popular sport in the metric world (football/soccer) uses yards instead of meters. > > Maybe in Great Britain, but surely not on the Continents (the Continents include Europe, Africa, South-America, Asia…). What the [Brits](https://schumanchu.eu/html/l/l_00102incontinentia.html) call the 12 yard spot, we call the 11 m penalty kick. [And so on.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Fu%C3%9Fballfeld_mit_Ma%C3%9Fen_und_Beschreibung.svg) When all the measurements are funny numbers, because they were converted… ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-converting-to-the-metric-system/978666/445 "2023-10-22T18:58:02Z")
The only “funny” number I see is that the goal is 7.32 m wide instead of 8 yards, and it’s not really hilarious. The rest are ranges (like 90 -120 m vs 100 - 130 yd.) and a couple of 5.5. The box is called _der 16 Meter Raum_ in Germany although technically it is 16.5 m, so what? It is measured once (in meters) and the white lines are drawn. In Spain it is called “el área grande” (the big surface) as oposite to the “área chica” (the small surface - 6 yd box). _Grande_ and _chica_ sure are metric units we could agree upon! ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-converting-to-the-metric-system/978666/446 "2023-10-22T19:16:01Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > _Grande_ and _chica_ Grande and chica are excellent examples of " traditional" or “convenient” non-metric units that we can all appreciate. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-converting-to-the-metric-system/978666/447 "2023-10-22T19:29:36Z")
Nice to see we can agree in good spirit 🙂 Looking at the range of measures for the overall dimensions of the field the only really funny thing I see is that it would be technically possible to make the pitch square if somebody took the biggest range for the width (90 m or 100 yd) and the smallest for the length (90 m or 100 yd). Don’t know whether any football field is square, but the rules would allow it. Also curious that the range for the width is 45 to 90 m or 50 to 100 yd, a 1:2 ratio. But not for international games. (/hijack) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-converting-to-the-metric-system/978666/448 "2023-10-22T22:24:53Z")
There are lots of archaic units that survive only in their use in some sport. Where does one ever actually encounter furlongs, outside of horse racing, for instance? And the length of a marathon doesn’t make sense in any units (unless you define a marathon to itself be a length unit). ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-converting-to-the-metric-system/978666/449 "2023-10-24T00:26:37Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > The reason Japan has separate and incompatible electrical grids has to do largely with the US occupation of Japan after WWII. The use of an underpowered 50 Hz/100 VAC power grid is evident to anyone who has tried to use an electric razor or element heater, and the disconnect has caused a lot of problems over the years, particularly during the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Cite for the separate electrical grids due to the US occupation after WWII. I’ve always heard it [like this](https://www.quora.com/Why-does-Japan-still-use-50Hz-and-60Hz-in-their-electrical-system#:~:text=In%201895%2C%20Germany's%20AEG%20sold,towards%20a%2060%20Hz%20system.). > [@](#): > > Initially it was an accident of history that evolved into a large installed base of 50 and 60 Hz power systems that are now too costly to change. In 1895, Germany’s AEG sold a 50 Hz generator to the power company in Tokyo, setting the Eastern half of Japan on the course towards a 50 Hz system. In 1896, an American company, General Electric, sold a 60 Hz generator to the power company in Osaka, setting the Western half of Japan on a course towards a 60 Hz system. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-converting-to-the-metric-system/978666/450 "2023-10-24T03:51:14Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > There are lots of archaic units that survive only in their use in some sport. Where does one ever actually encounter furlongs, outside of horse racing, for instance? And the length of a marathon doesn’t make sense in any units (unless you define a marathon to itself be a length unit). A cricket pitch is 1 chain long, right? But what do the laws say about someone using an Irish chain or an American chain? ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-converting-to-the-metric-system/978666/451 "2023-10-24T08:45:03Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > A cricket pitch is 1 chain long, right? But what do the laws say about someone using an Irish chain or an American chain? I don’t believe it’s ever arisen, but if anyone tried they would run foul of the fact that although the pitch is in fact 1 chain long, its length is defined [in the laws](https://www.lords.org/mcc/the-laws-of-cricket/the-pitch) in feet (and metres): > The pitch is a rectangular area of the ground 22 yards/20.12 m in length and 10 ft/3.05 m in width ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-converting-to-the-metric-system/978666/452 "2023-10-24T14:52:46Z")
According to Wikipedia, a chain is 66 feet long (22 yards, as above) in both the U.S. and Imperial units Doesn’t say anything about any Irish units, but I suspect that they’re the same. At 66 feet long, there’s an even 80 chains per mile. And a good point would be that many traditional standard measurements will not go away, whether actually measured in metric units or in whatever other units. And yeah, hours, minutes, and days are not, it turns out, metric units of time. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-converting-to-the-metric-system/978666/453 "2023-10-24T15:19:09Z")
> [@Civil\_Guy](#): > > And yeah, hours, minutes, and days are not, it turns out, metric units of time. The French Revolutionary Republic tried. > **[Decimal time](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimal_time)** > > Decimal time is the representation of the time of day using units which are decimally related. This term is often used specifically to refer to the French Republican calendar time system used in France from 1794 to 1800, during the French Revolution, which divided the day into 10 decimal hours, each decimal hour into 100 decimal minutes and each decimal minute into 100 decimal seconds (100000 decimal seconds per day), as opposed to the more familiar standard time, which divides the day into 24 ho... ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-converting-to-the-metric-system/978666/454 "2023-10-25T22:07:17Z")
You know, for all the talk of hertz, I used to see a _lot_ of older technical documentation referring to cps. To be fair, a lot of this documentation had vacuum tubes and labelled them as valves. So, err, hertz is metric. Or at least, it’s standard SI. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-converting-to-the-metric-system/978666/455 "2023-10-25T22:14:12Z")
I measure speeds in Hz per diopter and no one can tell me otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2023, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-converting-to-the-metric-system/978666/456 "2023-10-26T19:56:55Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > You cannot convert to the metric system, it is not a religion! You are merely asked to adopt it. Like a child. You don’t even have to love it. Just accept that it is better that way. For everyone. It may make you feel good. And also with you. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2023, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-converting-to-the-metric-system/978666/457 "2023-10-26T20:17:56Z")
I don’t understand, but just in case: I am too old to be adopted. And I am not a religion either. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2023, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-converting-to-the-metric-system/978666/458 "2023-10-28T08:39:28Z")
It’s part of the traditional Catholic (and Anglican) Sunday service. The priest says: “Peace be with you” (or “the Lord be with you”) and the congregation replies: “And also with you” (or “And with your spirit”) You sound religious, despite your protestations. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2023, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-converting-to-the-metric-system/978666/459 "2023-10-28T11:05:43Z")
Surely it is not only Catholics. Muslims say “wa alaykumu s-salaam” all the time. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2023, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-converting-to-the-metric-system/978666/460 "2023-10-28T11:53:31Z")
And do they reply, “and also with you”? It’s partly that the phrasing, in English, “and also with you” is slightly archaic, so it’s very recognizable as part of the service. The colloquial way of saying that would be “same to you” or “you, too” or of you wanted to be very formal, “and to you as well”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-converting-to-the-metric-system/978666.md?page=22) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-converting-to-the-metric-system/978666.md?page=24)