# The United States and the metric system. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 17, 2009, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-and-the-metric-system/514126 "2009-10-17T06:01:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-and-the-metric-system/514126/21 "2009-10-17T21:11:34Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > In some ways the UK is even MORE archaic measurement-wise than the US. “Stone” comes to mind - why not “stones”, to start with? Does anybody but the Brits use that one? Why are stone any more archaic than pounds and ounces, for example? They’re roughly the same age; the term just didn’t get used in the US. That said, the lack of pluralisation of the word is a bit odd, but there you go. If you want real confusion, when I moved to Ireland in the mid-1990s, half the road signs were in KM and the other half were in miles. But speed limits were in mph. There was a relatively recent push to change everything road-wise over to KM, which has since been accomplished (together with an increase in speed limit on freeways, but a decrease in built-up areas, in order to round off the kmh numbers). But beer is still served in pints. Fahrenheit for climatic temperature in the UK is comprehended by most people over the age of about 35; however, most of them can also think in C, and young people do exclusively. Being in the “understand both” category, I can attest that it’s not at all difficult to do. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-and-the-metric-system/514126/22 "2009-10-17T21:19:00Z")
In manufacturing and engineering there is a push for it but components come in both inches and millimeters. You wind up with weird stackups. Steels are increasingly more metric friendly but if you are reworking an older design ,you are forced back to inches. An inch equals 25.4 MM, so it starts out a bit ugly and gets worse. ---
**Author:** ![Mogle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mogle/32/12021_2.png) [@Mogle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mogle)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-and-the-metric-system/514126/23 "2009-10-17T22:22:18Z")
[slight hijack] In the interest of fighting ignorance I feel compelled to point out that capitalization is important when dealing with SI units. Unless the unit was named after a person, the symbol is always lowercase and the symbols for prefixes are only uppercase for mega- and up. So, it’s **km** for kilometer and **mm** for millimeter. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-and-the-metric-system/514126/24 "2009-10-17T22:43:23Z")
> [@Mogle](#): > > [slight hijack] > In the interest of fighting ignorance I feel compelled to point out that capitalization is important when dealing with SI units. > Unless the unit was named after a person, the symbol is always lowercase and the symbols for prefixes are only uppercase for mega- and up. > So, it’s **km** for kilometer and **mm** for millimeter. in the old days the kilo prefix was K and then downgraded to k ---
**Author:** ![MrFloppy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@MrFloppy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrFloppy)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-and-the-metric-system/514126/25 "2009-10-17T23:34:38Z")
> [@Waffle\_Decider](#): > > How is fuel efficiency of cars measured in the UK? I thought I saw adverts on TV there saying such and such car has a fuel efficiency of X miles per gallon. I assume that is imperial gallon? But isn’t fuel sold in litres on the street? 😕 Or am I going crazy? Liters per 100km. If they do mention gallons to keep the old-schooler’s happy, it is of course miles per imperial gallons. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-and-the-metric-system/514126/26 "2009-10-18T00:05:26Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > The illegal drug trade is all about the metric. There was a comedian who had a joke about that - you know, grams and such, and then you shoot them with a 9mm. The U.S. has mixed metric with other things and it won’t change anytime soon. Inches are great for measuring height and pounds are a good measure for body weight. Everything else is mixed. You can buy two liter soda bottles and metric hardware at any hardware store for example. The comments you may be referring to may be something related to this. [http://www.theonion.com/content/news/metric\_system\_thriving\_in\_nations](http://www.theonion.com/content/news/metric_system_thriving_in_nations) ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-and-the-metric-system/514126/27 "2009-10-18T00:54:54Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Also body temperature is invariably in F, although air temperature in C. Oh, really? Every time I get my temperature measured, it is in Celsius, and certainly the majority of times I hear body temperature mentioned it is in Celsius. How old are you? ---
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-and-the-metric-system/514126/28 "2009-10-18T00:58:10Z")
I do not understand why US car makers have not gone all metric ---
**Author:** ![Henrichek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5daacb/32.png) [@Henrichek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Henrichek)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-and-the-metric-system/514126/29 "2009-10-18T00:59:20Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > in the old days the kilo prefix was K and then downgraded to k What was the reason for doing so? It would seem more logical if all prefixes above 10⁰ were written with a capital letter. ---
**Author:** ![Waffle\_Decider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/77aa72/32.png) [@Waffle\_Decider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waffle_Decider)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-and-the-metric-system/514126/30 "2009-10-18T01:09:20Z")
> [@Henrichek](#): > > What was the reason for doing so? It would seem more logical if all prefixes above 10⁰ were written with a capital letter. WAG: To avoid possible confusion with Kelvin? ---
**Author:** ![Henrichek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5daacb/32.png) [@Henrichek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Henrichek)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-and-the-metric-system/514126/31 "2009-10-18T01:11:58Z")
> [@Waffle\_Decider](#): > > WAG: To avoid possible confusion with Kelvin? Even though it is a WAG, it makes sense. I don’t know why that didn’t come to mind. I asked a bit rashly. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![fandango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b5ac83/32.png) [@fandango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fandango)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-and-the-metric-system/514126/32 "2009-10-18T02:15:09Z")
In my experience in many metric countries, the sizes of homes were still quoted in square feet. This is what I saw in India as well as Canada. ---
**Author:** ![fubbleskag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fubbleskag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fubbleskag)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-and-the-metric-system/514126/33 "2009-10-18T02:23:28Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > The illegal drug trade is all about the metric. There was a comedian who had a joke about that - you know, grams and such, and then you shoot them with a 9mm. in canada, at least, you buy marijuana in grams, fractions of ounces, or pounds, but never kilos. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-and-the-metric-system/514126/34 "2009-10-18T02:33:05Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Myanmar and Liberia and the US are the only 3 countries that still use the English system with Fahrenheit > [@Markxxx](#): > > Burma doesn’t use it but Myanmar does 😃 In the interest of fighting ignorance, most people still refer to the country as Burma, by way of refusing to recognize the military junta government that decreed the name change to Myanmar. Using the name Myanmar is considered an implicit approval of the military dictatorship, while using the name Burma is considered to be implicit support for the horrifically victimized people of Burma. The U.S., U.K, Canada, Australia, and France, for example, still officially use “Burma,” while China and Russia use “Myanmar.” See [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma#Name) for an overview, and see _[Rambo](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462499/)_ for an awesome Hollywoodization of the conditions in modern-day Burma. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-and-the-metric-system/514126/35 "2009-10-18T02:35:39Z")
Yes, pot for some reason is sold in imperial units. Perhaps because it tends to be domestically grown? I’ve never heard anybody talk about cocaine or heroin in anything but grams and kilos, though. (And while that Onion article isn’t the source I remember, it does seem that the 9 millimeter pistol is the weapon of choice for drug dealers.) ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-and-the-metric-system/514126/36 "2009-10-18T04:32:13Z")
> [@cckerberos](#): > > [Are you sure?](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2313029.stm) Hahahahaha. Fucking idiots. > [@](#): > > An Austrian-style pub is being banned from selling drinks in traditional German steins. > > Trading standards officials - who normally order shops and stores to serve goods in metric measures - say beer must be sold in Imperial pint and half-pint glasses [not in metric German steins]. > > Trading standards officials in Worcestershire admitted the law governing alcoholic drinks was “bizarre”, as bottled drinks in pubs were all served in metric measures, and said they had some sympathy with Mrs Schutz. > > Mr Dell added: “However, we have to enforce the law. If we make an exception in this case, it would set a precedent and we would have pubs up and down the country demanding the right to be able to serve their drinks in half-litres and litres.” Fucking, fucking idiots. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-and-the-metric-system/514126/37 "2009-10-18T04:37:08Z")
**Zsofia** , you may be thinking of this Dave Barry line: > [@Dave Barry](#): > > Thus the metric system did not really catch on in the States, unless you count the increasing popularity of the 9mm bullet. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-and-the-metric-system/514126/38 "2009-10-18T13:17:25Z")
In the US, inch dimensioning is very common for mechanical components. When metric components - say, nuts and bolts - started being more available, they were special. So if you wanted to buy nuts, there were plain old ordinary nuts in inch sizes, and various special modifications and versions like having nylon locking rings, or being knurled, or being made of brass, or being metric. It’s easy to understand using K instead of k as the 1000 multiplier in SI. It is more consistent to use capitals for larger-than-1 multipliers. In some contexts it is officially allowed. For example, the Hewlett-Packard 28S calculator has a wonderful units conversion facility, and it accepts K or k. I don’t think avoiding confusion with kelvins is important; note that the m milli multiplier gets understood without being mistaken for the m meter. ---
**Author:** ![Mogle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mogle/32/12021_2.png) [@Mogle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mogle)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-and-the-metric-system/514126/39 "2009-10-18T13:31:44Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > It’s easy to understand using K instead of k as the 1000 multiplier in SI. It is more consistent to use capitals for larger-than-1 multipliers. In some contexts it is officially allowed. For example, the Hewlett-Packard 28S calculator has a wonderful units conversion facility, and it accepts K or k. I don’t think avoiding confusion with kelvins is important; note that the m milli multiplier gets understood without being mistaken for the m meter. It’s like spelling, it may not always make perfect sense and if you spell something wrong the reader may still understand what you mean, but that’s no excuse to ignore proper spelling. ---
**Author:** ![cgg419](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cgg419/32/2847_2.png) [@cgg419](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cgg419)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-and-the-metric-system/514126/40 "2009-10-18T14:33:49Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > About 30 years ago, I spent a year living in an apartment in Zurich that had an outside thermometer that gave the temperature in C and R (Reaumur), which is exactly 80% of C. So I discovered that degrees C + degrees R + 32 = degrees F exactly. That may be the coolest thing I have ever learned. I’ve never been able to remember the “official” formula for converting them, and the layman’s one I do remember was always a bit off, now I see why (double the degrees C and add 30) I wonder why this isn’t more commonly known? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-and-the-metric-system/514126.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-and-the-metric-system/514126.md?page=3)