# metric or standard or... the idiocracy measuring system **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 29, 2009, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-or-standard-or-the-idiocracy-measuring-system/491174 "2009-03-29T12:54:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2009, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-or-standard-or-the-idiocracy-measuring-system/491174/21 "2009-03-29T23:44:35Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > The problem is that the English system makes that big jump from yards to miles–a jump by a factor of 1,760. There’s nothing in between except for the delightful furlong, which has unfortunately fallen out of use. A mile is 80 cricket pitches. Everyone knows that. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-or-standard-or-the-idiocracy-measuring-system/491174/22 "2009-03-30T00:21:13Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > No, you’re wrong, and foolish if you can’t grasp the value of describing distances and weights in easy-to-visualize terms. However, there are times when the “easy to visualize” terms are just stupid crap needed to fill a script, or stupid crap needed to make the distance or weight seem really impressive. Such as… describing an inch in terms other than “an inch”. Or describing 450 yards as “4 and a half football fields” instead of “about a quarter mile”. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-or-standard-or-the-idiocracy-measuring-system/491174/23 "2009-03-30T01:58:23Z")
What good would half a football field even be? Do they play half-court? ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-or-standard-or-the-idiocracy-measuring-system/491174/24 "2009-03-30T02:09:54Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > 100 yards, plus an extra 10 yards in each end zone. And there’s only one sport called football, the rest are either called “X football”, like “Australian Rules Football” or “Arena Football”, or are soccer, which is only called football by foreigners. except that sport that you play in the US, with pads and helmets and endzones and stuff we kinda call American Football or Gridiron, depending on our mood. The round ball sport is soccer, the bastardisation of rugby we call league, then there is AFL (which a Cane Toad described to me as pooftahs in satin shorts) …and on and on and on ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-or-standard-or-the-idiocracy-measuring-system/491174/25 "2009-03-30T02:23:17Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > It will take 30 seconds to read the OP. (That’s about the amount of time it takes to heat up a cup of coffee in the microwave.) No, it can sometimes take up to 30 seconds or more. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-or-standard-or-the-idiocracy-measuring-system/491174/26 "2009-03-30T02:38:57Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > What good would half a football field even be? Do they play half-court? No, it’s the 50-yard line, which gives a ticketholder equally bad views of both endzones. Teams switch endzones at halftime so, I suppose, neither team has an advantage based on wind direction. The most expensive seats are there so the people who pay the most to watch the game have to rely on the referees to know what’s going on. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-or-standard-or-the-idiocracy-measuring-system/491174/27 "2009-03-30T03:12:51Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > No, it can sometimes take up to 30 seconds or more. God, I hate that. “Up to… or more.” If it can be more, just leave out the “up to” bit, you farking idiots. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_from\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Man\_from\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_from_Mars)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-or-standard-or-the-idiocracy-measuring-system/491174/28 "2009-03-30T05:12:56Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > 100 yards, plus an extra 10 yards in each end zone. And there’s only one sport called football, the rest are either called “X football”, like “Australian Rules Football” or “Arena Football”, or are soccer, which is only called football by foreigners. Another name for soccer is “association football,” which is where the word “soccer” comes from. “Foreigners” also have a name for our sport, such as “American football” or “gridiron.” ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-or-standard-or-the-idiocracy-measuring-system/491174/29 "2009-03-30T10:42:15Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > 100 yards, plus an extra 10 yards in each end zone. And there’s only one sport called football, the rest are either called “X football”, like “Australian Rules Football” or “Arena Football”, or are soccer, which is only called football by foreigners. Okay, now I’m confused. When the guy says the length of a football field does he mean 100 yards or 120 yards? [QUOTE=Tapioca Dextrin] A mile is 80 cricket pitches. Everyone knows that. [/QUOTE] I just want to know who’d spend time throwing a grasshopper 80 times to find this out? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-or-standard-or-the-idiocracy-measuring-system/491174/30 "2009-03-30T13:24:34Z")
> [@Uzi](#): > > Okay, now I’m confused. When the guy says the length of a football field does he mean 100 yards or 120 yards? [Or even 110 or 150 yards](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_football)? 😃 If you were talking the length about an Association Football field, you wouldn’t have to worry (\*\*Captain Amazing’s \*\*slightly xenophobic remarks notwithstanding) because it would be called a football _pitch_. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-or-standard-or-the-idiocracy-measuring-system/491174/31 "2009-03-30T13:32:35Z")
For me a football field is 27 inches diagonal. I hate when they use a football field as a length to describe something. Especially when they say something like it’s five and a half football fields long. Could you use miles please. We use miles everyday when we travel. By the way the Google unit converter doesn’t convert for football fields. I just checked. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-or-standard-or-the-idiocracy-measuring-system/491174/32 "2009-03-30T14:31:43Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > No, it can sometimes take up to 30 seconds or more. Oh man … I have to deal with this kind of sentence all the time. Sometimes at least up to twice a week or more. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-or-standard-or-the-idiocracy-measuring-system/491174/33 "2009-03-30T14:41:43Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > The problem is that the English system makes that big jump from yards to miles–a jump by a factor of 1,760. There’s nothing in between except for the delightful furlong, which has unfortunately fallen out of use. What do you have against the [rod](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_(unit))??? You anti-rodite! ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-or-standard-or-the-idiocracy-measuring-system/491174/34 "2009-03-30T14:59:34Z")
A journey of 160,934,400 centimeters begins with a distance of 0.0000000000000000966540000317106517968568368814885616302490234375 light years. -Lao Tsu ---
**Author:** ![LionelHutz405](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lionelhutz405/32/536_2.png) [@LionelHutz405](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LionelHutz405)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-or-standard-or-the-idiocracy-measuring-system/491174/35 "2009-03-30T15:29:44Z")
Apparently flood depth is now measured in a rather bizarre way. [http://imgur.com/A7XGY.jpg](http://imgur.com/A7XGY.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-or-standard-or-the-idiocracy-measuring-system/491174/36 "2009-03-30T15:37:17Z")
If you watch the Discovery Channel, you know the standard for length is “Titanics” and volume is “Hoover Dams”. Something that was 1 1/2 Titanics long and had 2 Hoover Dams worth of cement would be very large indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-or-standard-or-the-idiocracy-measuring-system/491174/37 "2009-03-30T16:27:28Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > God, I hate that. “Up to… or more.” > > If it can be more, just leave out the “up to” bit, you farking idiots. Yeah. “Up to X or more” is almost meaningless; you’d be better off saying “approximately X”. “Up to” and “or more” are classic weasel words in ads, along with “from”: “Sale! Miracle Clean! [sub]From[/sub] $29.00!” “New '10 Ford Fanglia! Goes [sub]up to[/sub] **1000 km** on a tank of gas!” ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-or-standard-or-the-idiocracy-measuring-system/491174/38 "2009-03-30T17:04:00Z")
“See up to a 47% reduction in appearance of fine eye wrinkles!” I’m going to slap that on a bottle of water and see how many I sell. Or this one I saw yesterday: “Get up to a 52% closer shave!” What the hell does that even mean?? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-or-standard-or-the-idiocracy-measuring-system/491174/39 "2009-03-30T17:10:33Z")
Yeah, but it’s on sale, so you can save up to 30 to 40 percent or more! ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-or-standard-or-the-idiocracy-measuring-system/491174/40 "2009-03-30T17:18:42Z")
99 44/100 percent pure hogwash [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-or-standard-or-the-idiocracy-measuring-system/491174.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-or-standard-or-the-idiocracy-measuring-system/491174.md?page=3)