Things that are measured in metric/imperial in imperial/metric countries?

Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS)
#1

Even in countries where one measurement standard predominates, there are tiny things that have become exclusively measured in the other. For example, most people know that American large sodas exclusively come in litres while small sodas still come in oz. But I found it odd that backpack sizes are also exclusively denominate in litres in the US.

On the flip side, in Australia, I’m pretty sure all conversations around penis size were denominated in inches. I’m not even quite sure what the size of my penis is in cm. I’m curious if this applies to other metric countries as well?

What are some other exceedingly specific, random items that end up being denominated in the opposite measurement system?

#2

Finland has been metric for ages, but monitors and TVs still come in inches. Lumber is 2x4" and bicycle wheels are 26" or 28", jeans use inches as well. Some beers and possibly hard ciders come in a can the size of an imperial pint (568 ml). Can’t think of anything that uses gallons, yards, miles or pounds, though.

#3

Not quite an answer to the OP, but I find it exceedingly difficult to measure people in centimetres rather than feet and inches. I get kilometres, millimetres and litres with no dramas whatsover.

But when CrimeStoppers tells me the alleged accused is 173cm tall, my eyes just glaze over and I have NO idea how tall he is! If you tell me he’s 5’ 9", I’ve got that!

#4

I think the denomination of “stone” (14 US pounds) is used exclusively for people in UK (others?)

In the US, silver is measured in Troy ounces - not many other uses for that one.

The US military uses kilometers (pronounced ‘click’) for distances on land.

UK also uses miles NOT kilometers for road and speed measurement.

#5

Screen size.
For TV’s, computers, cell phones and cameras,–it’s always described in inches, all over the world, I think.

#6

Yeah the UK is quite a hodge-podge of metric and imperial units.
And schools have been gradually phasing out out the imperial units, so you could almost guess someone’s age by the degree to which they’ve shifted over.

I was probably right in the middle of this transition growing up, as I sometimes even mix units in one sentence: “It’s about a mile away and 50 metres tall”

#7

Sailboats and recreational powerboats are measured in feet everywhere I think.

Here in metric Denmark the pound is still sometimes used for vegetables. The pre-metric danish pound was I think 499.5 g. When metrification came around it was redefined as 500g and kept in use. It may be vanishing, increasingly prices are specified as e.g. 10 kr/ half kg rather than 10 kr/pound. For prepackaged vegetables weight is always specified in g og kg.

#8

UK is less metric than some other English-speaking countries.

In the US wine is 750 mL or 1.5 L.
US regular beer bottle is 12 oz., but bigger ones are usually 22 oz. or 750 mL.
US liquor is 750 mL (“fifth” of a gallon roughly) or 1.75 mL.
US soda sizes are 12 oz., 20 oz., 1 L, and 2 L. Even 3 L exists, at the dollar store!

As I understand it, Australian beer sizes are a hodgepodge that varies by state, and not always obviously referring to a specific size.

US measurements often use the same name as the Imperial equivalent. The pint is 16 oz in the US vs. 20 Imperial, but US ounces are bigger so the Imperial pint is 20% bigger, not 25%.

Countries can’t seem to agree on whether to measure fuel economy in km per liter or liters per 100 km.

US driving distances are often stated by the time it takes, not the mile distance.

#9

Pakistan has been officially metric for about 40 years but…

The construction industry still uses Imperial and space is still defined as such (for instance)
Height is still measured in feet/inches
Clothing and food industry is still Imperial
Medically we still use Fahrenheit, despite using Celsius for nearly everything else.

#10

In Canada, most weights are metric (e.g., grocery items), but humans are weighed in pounds.

#11

Just screens and wheels, in South Africa.

#12

Wheels. I had completely missed this. When I bought my last car, I went with 16" wheels and it didn’t even register with me.

#13

Yes, measured in feet and inches. In Quebec, these are translated into metric on driver’s licences, but we have to be different. And recipes still use tsp, Tbsp, oz, and cups. A friend of mine went to a lumber yard in Oslo and asked for a 5 by 10 cm piece of wood and heard the clerk call to the back room for a 2 by 4. In various places in Europe I have been in, fruit is still often sold in 500 gram pounds. But I Canada, a pound means 454 grams. We do measure road distances in Km. Is 1000 Km a Mm?

#14

Illegal drugs have been teaching stoners the metric system for years. :smiley:

#15

Aside from Canada, do most metric countries use measures of volume in recipes? Because I seem to recall most recipes I’ve seen give measurements in grams. If so, are kitchen scales pretty standard in Europe et al.? Because they aren’t ubiquitous in the US.

#16

China and Mexico: TV’s, monitors, and iMacs.

In China, bicycle tires are 26", 27.5", or 29" for MTB. Tire and fork inflation pressures are all in PSI, even though bar are usually printed on the tires in addition to PSI.

#17

In the U.S. engine displacements are now usually quoted in liters for large engines or cubic centimeters for small engines. I am old enough to remember when they were quoted in cubic inches.

Medication dosages are usually in milliliters or milligrams these days.

In spectacle prescriptions, optical power of lenses is given in diopters (reciprocal meters). I’m not sure if any other unit has ever been in common use. Pupillary distance is given in millimeters. Also, the various dimensions of eyeglass frames are quoted in mm.

Nutrition labels and tabulated nutrition data often use metric units, sometimes for the serving size and often for the nutrient content.

Competitive distance sporting events in swimming, biking, cross-country skiing, and running are usually in meters or kilometers.

Most new products with nuts and bolts seem to use metric nowadays, especially in vehicles. In other applications, metric and standard are both in use, sometimes both types in the very same product.

#18

If you’re interested in old style measurements and not only in the imperial system, then in Spain we use:
libras (pounds) for certain foods, although which foods and how much a libra is will vary by location; people do not use it as a real unit of measure so much as an approximate one. For example, the same person may say “100g” if they want to see 100g (±5) on the scale, but “a quarter pound” if they want “100g or a bit more, but less than 150g”.
palmos (handspans) for length, most commonly when talking about cloth
pre-internet, house prices in Barcelona would reference the price by palmo cuaddrado, square handspan (not by square meter as in the rest of the country) so the numbers would be smaller and less scary
arrobas are still alive and well as a weight unit, mostly for cereal
and so are robadas for a measure of arable land in Aragon and Navarre

That’s off the top of my head.

Kitchen scales are pretty common in Spain in my experience; volumes when given tend to be less exact (“one soup spoon, flat”, “one soup spoon, with hill”) and often given as ratios: “pick a small recipient, or several of the same size, and use them as your measure: 2 measures flour, 1 measure sugar, half a measure…”

#19

That’s cuadrado, not cuaddrado. Apppppparently I’m developing a stutter in my fingers, sorry.

#20

In Germany it is similar to what has been said already.
Screens come in inches, the value is sometimes also given in centimetres. This is a rather recent development: 15-20 years ago when TV screens were still in 4:3 format they were sized by centimetres. In essence, Germany converted to imperial in this market.

Tyres (car and bicycle) have a curious mixed format with imperial and metric measures for different parameters, width metric, diameter imperial. For cars this system is also common in the rest of the world, I believe (including the US).

Car and truck engine power is given in horsepower in everyday conversation, although car manufacturers are obliged to give the value also in kW (for ages now).

Ship and boat speeds are usually given in knots.

In Aviation imperial measures are common as well (e.g. elevation, flight level)

The metric pound (500 g) and the Zentner (50 kg, “metric” hundredweight) are still in use sometimes - but these are certainly on the decline and mostly only used by older people nowadays.

Blood pressure is given in mmHg (Torr), not in Pascals or a derivation thereof.