# What measurements are not done metrically in the EU? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 28, 2001, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-measurements-are-not-done-metrically-in-the-eu/84323 "2001-09-28T15:56:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2001, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-measurements-are-not-done-metrically-in-the-eu/84323/21 "2001-09-30T00:03:45Z")
> [@](#): > > Tyres and wheel rims are in inches, but given that holds true for for everything from Harleys to Hondas I assume that its a peculiarity of the industry as a whole rather than a local thing. Aren’t the width measurements done in metric, though? > [@](#): > > Ganja, I have never heard of being sold by the gram over here, guess asking drug dealers to go metric is like asking terrorists to “upgrade” to a new version of PGP with a backdoor. I believe that in the US the drug trade in general uses metric a lot more than the rest of society. Marijuana is, I think, sold in ounces or by price (e.g. “dime bag”) more often, however. But kilos are used for larger quantities (I recall Arlo Guthrie singing “heading in from Los Angeles, brining in a couple of keys”, for example). And other drugs are commonly sold by the gram. > [@](#): > > Clothes are still imperial, I’m a 30 inch waist, 32 leg and a 16 inch collar, I have no idea at all if you folks over the pond use metric for this stuff. Same in the US. > [@](#): > > Shoe sizes I know are different here fron the rest of the EU, I’m a 10 in our sizes but I think that makes me a 40 something in EU terms. I have a feeling that US sizes are closer to EU than good old blighty, but a couple of numbers down for the same size. Don’t know if this is down to imperial vs metric or not. US sizes are about 1 or 1.5 off from British sizes, more or less. The EU uses centimeters, I think. Japan uses a completely different scale. For some reason, socks have their own sizing system independent of shoe sizes. ---
**Author:** ![milo\_minderbinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@milo\_minderbinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milo_minderbinder)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2001, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-measurements-are-not-done-metrically-in-the-eu/84323/22 "2001-09-30T01:38:16Z")
Don’t know how to do the funky quotes, but… Quote * * * Aren’t the width measurements done in metric, though? * * * It’s never occured to me before how weird this is, but you are quite correct. Tyre sizes are expressed in the form a/bcRd where a is the width in milimetres, b is the aspect ratio, ie the “height” of the sidewall as a percentage of width (but if not noted otherwise the ratio is 82%), c is the speed rating, which is a measure of the tyres ability to run at a certain speed under a certain load. I can’t remember if the load is supposed to be expressed in imperial or metric, but I think the tables I have seen had both. The R stands for radial and c s the rim size in inches. BMW are the only manufacturer I can think of who have bucked the trend by fitting 235/55ZR390’s to some of their cars. Try getting one of them when you get a flat. I dare you. quote * * * I believe that in the US the drug trade in general uses metric a lot more than the rest of society. Marijuana is, I think, sold in ounces or by price (e.g. “dime bag”) more often, however. But kilos are used for larger quantities (I recall Arlo Guthrie singing “heading in from Los Angeles, brining in a couple of keys”, for example). And other drugs are commonly sold by the gram. * * * Dime bag? I’m assuming this is an archaic term, but given how cheap petrol is over there i’m not so sure. How do you think your immigration people would take to the idea of just one more wasted guitar player in L.A? BTW, how do you insert the groovy quote lines, and how come my winky smilie doesn’t work? milo ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2001, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-measurements-are-not-done-metrically-in-the-eu/84323/23 "2001-09-30T02:02:34Z")
**milo** , in the context of a _dime bag_, I’m pretty sure a dime is $10. The best way of discovering how to use the various codes is to press the ‘quote’ key below any post which contains features you consider to be groovy. The ‘quote’ function itself is used when a poster wishes to reply to a particular post, and to include some, or all, of the original post for reference. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2001, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-measurements-are-not-done-metrically-in-the-eu/84323/24 "2001-09-30T02:02:53Z")
Dunno about your winkie, but to figure out how to do any formatting(including quotes), click on the little button at the bottom of any post that says “quote.” You’ll get a reply window with the whole post that you are quoting, and you can see what the proper vB code is. BTW: As of the last time I was in the market, a dime bag isn’t a 10 cents, but $10. ---
**Author:** ![milo\_minderbinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@milo\_minderbinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milo_minderbinder)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2001, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-measurements-are-not-done-metrically-in-the-eu/84323/25 "2001-09-30T02:22:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Nostradamus \* > The best way of discovering how to use the various codes is to press the ‘quote’ key below any post which contains features you consider to be groovy. aaahh!,\*\* groovy \*\* milo ---
**Author:** ![Qwertyasdfg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ecc23a/32.png) [@Qwertyasdfg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwertyasdfg)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2001, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-measurements-are-not-done-metrically-in-the-eu/84323/26 "2001-09-30T05:01:04Z")
A slight hijack: Why is the calorie system not the Metric system? Calories seem more… base-ten…ish than joules. This seems more like it should be metric one. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2001, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-measurements-are-not-done-metrically-in-the-eu/84323/27 "2001-09-30T06:00:04Z")
Because a joule is one kilogram meter squared per second squared, while calories require a conversion factor of 4.19 somewhere in there. Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe that in SI, all units are derived directly from the basic units without any conversion factors. > [@](#): > > I don’t know this for sure, but I bet they still sell eggs by the dozen in Europe. Yeah, it’s a _hell_ of a lot more convenient than selling them by the 1/50,183,333,333,333,333,333,333 mole. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2001, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-measurements-are-not-done-metrically-in-the-eu/84323/28 "2001-09-30T06:54:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by milo\_minderbinder \* > BTW I think the only people in the world who still talk about displacement of an engine in cubic inches are you tax evading traitors over there (Hey, TheThrill started it!). Not any more. All the car ads that mention them give displacement in liters. It’s been that way for about 20 years or so. Before that, displacements were given in cubic inches for domestic cars and cc’s for undomestic. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2001, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-measurements-are-not-done-metrically-in-the-eu/84323/29 "2001-09-30T06:54:56Z")
Telescopes are still measured in inches. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2001, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-measurements-are-not-done-metrically-in-the-eu/84323/30 "2001-09-30T11:13:26Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Mersavets \* Aviation the world over uses feet for altitude measurements. [quote] Nope, some places use meters, which is why I had to learn that 100 feet is approximately 30 meters in ground school. Airspeed, however, is most common referred to in _knots_. Here in the States a very old or very slow plane may have the airspeed in miles per hour, and in other countries a small, slow aircraft like an ultralight may have it in kilometers per hour, but those are exceptions. When filing a flight plane you have to give the estimated speed in knots. A very rough conversion is 10 knots (nautical miles) to 11 statute miles ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2001, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-measurements-are-not-done-metrically-in-the-eu/84323/31 "2001-09-30T13:06:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by milo\_minderbinder \* > **Petrol, to most people, is sold by the gallon, though the pumps show both that and litres. The signs outside the garages showing the price are always per litre, but I assume thats just to make it seem cheaper.** No, it’s because it’s illegal to sell it in any other measurement than metric. Same as weights and lengths. These are EU regulations. Shops have been prosecuted for selling things using the imperial measurements. That’s not to say you can’t still buy a pound of potatoes, but it must be priced and sold in its metric equivalent. The pub pint is a special case. More info: [http://www.metric.org.uk](http://www.metric.org.uk) ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2001, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-measurements-are-not-done-metrically-in-the-eu/84323/32 "2001-09-30T13:32:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jefnixon \* > **In the UK, despite being metric, speed limits are still posted in MPH. Also distance is also shown as miles.** They did the same thing in Ireland. That was sooo annoying driving there. And I think they were still in the process of changing over as some signs gave distance in miles and others in kilometers. It all depended on shape and color of the sign. Or something like that. ---
**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:** [September 30, 2001, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-measurements-are-not-done-metrically-in-the-eu/84323/33 "2001-09-30T20:03:34Z")
Just to give all the furriners a reference point here, in the US, the only common product measured in metric is pop, which can be bought in one, two, or three liter bottles (two being the most common). Smaller bottles, cans, and restaurant servings are still ounces, though. “Scientific” items are usually measured and sold in metric (you’d buy liquid nitrogen in liters, for instance), presumably because scientists are more used to metric than most Americans. The calorie is a metric unit, but it’s not an SI (International System) unit. It’s derived (indirectly) from metric units (one calorie will heat one gram of water by one Kelvin), and it’s used with the standard metric prefixes (milli-, kilo-, etc.). Other non-SI metric units include the parsec, the Angstrom, and the barn. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2001, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-measurements-are-not-done-metrically-in-the-eu/84323/34 "2001-09-30T23:15:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kferr \* > \*\*In the UK, I’ve found that you can roughly determine a person’s age by how they refer to temperature. If they are around 40 or older, they will use Farenheit, younger ones will use centigrade. Most weather reports will use both. \*\* UK weather reports tend to cite hot tempearatures in Fahrenheit and cold tempearatures in centigrade because they sound better that way. In general, the situation in the UK is that we were **meant** to go fully metric by 1975, but this was as daft as it was impractical, and our intrinsically moronic politicans and civil servants just wasted a vast amount of money and other resources (a) discussing metrication (b) not achieving it © not managing to educate anyone about it. Today, some areas are covered by law, and some not. Some of the laws are observed and enforced, others are not. It’s a mess. Welcome to Britain. ---
**Author:** ![Another\_Primate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Another\_Primate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Another_Primate)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2001, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-measurements-are-not-done-metrically-in-the-eu/84323/35 "2001-09-30T23:58:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Green Bean \* > \*\* > BTW: As of the last time I was in the market, a dime bag isn’t a 10 cents, but $10. \*\* **Green Bean** , I remember when dime bags went up to $15, and we all squawked. (However, the quality had improved, too, so the trade-off wasn’t bad.) That was in the mid-seventies. Now an ounce is over $100, I think. And I’ll bet quality is down; ain’t that the way of things? -Sue ---
**Author:** ![Popup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@Popup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Popup)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-measurements-are-not-done-metrically-in-the-eu/84323/36 "2001-10-01T11:26:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ichorous \* > \*\* > Are there other “traditional” measures that are used in various specialized ways? \*\* In Sweden longer distances are informally referred to in the unit of **mil** , one mil being 10km. It is a metrification of an earlier unit with the same name equal to 36000 feet, or 10.36km. ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-measurements-are-not-done-metrically-in-the-eu/84323/37 "2001-10-01T12:22:19Z")
> [@](#): > > Ganja, I have never heard of being sold by the gram over here, guess asking drug dealers to go metric is like asking terrorists to “upgrade” to a new version of PGP with a backdoor. I believe that in the US the drug trade in general uses metric a lot more than the rest of society. Marijuana is, I think, sold in ounces or by price (e.g. “dime bag”) more often, however. But kilos are used for larger quantities (I recall Arlo Guthrie singing “heading in from Los Angeles, brining in a couple of keys”, for example). And other drugs are commonly sold by the gram. This is where it gets interesting. In Britain, dope is sold in imperial 1/16th 1/8th, 1/4 etc of an ounce. The next big measure up is a nine bar (9ozs). Then a weight (1lb) Coke is sold in grammes apart from the uniquely (?) English Eighth (3.5 grammes for the price of three). Which is an eighth of an oz. Heroin is sold in bags of no fixed weight, but by price. Conveniently our cooper coinage is exactly the right weight for these transactions one penny being one eighth of an oz. Bet they didn’t think pof that when they designed them! ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-measurements-are-not-done-metrically-in-the-eu/84323/38 "2001-10-01T13:22:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ianzin \* > \*\*In general, the situation in the UK is that we were **meant** to go fully metric by 1975, but this was as daft as it was impractical, and our intrinsically moronic politicans and civil servants just wasted a vast amount of money and other resources (a) discussing metrication (b) not achieving it © not managing to educate anyone about it. Today, some areas are covered by law, and some not. Some of the laws are observed and enforced, others are not. It’s a mess. Welcome to Britain. \*\* And now, noble Fruit and Veg sellers are taking on the might of Europe by defiantly selling thier wares in pounds and ounces, even going to the hight court to defend their **right** to use the measurements of their choice. Makes no sense to me… BTW, I like the idea of simply changing the units of conversion and not telling anyone (1 lb = 500 g), it has a nice simplicity to it… Gp ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-measurements-are-not-done-metrically-in-the-eu/84323/39 "2001-10-01T13:28:55Z")
BTW, I like the idea of simply changing the units of conversion and not telling anyone (1 lb = 500 g), it has a nice simplicity to it… Gp \*\* [/QUOTE] Many things that come in jars (eg jam, peanut butter) are sold in quantities of 450g. There are 454 grammes in a pound. ---
**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 1, 2001, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-measurements-are-not-done-metrically-in-the-eu/84323/40 "2001-10-01T13:37:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lance Turbo \* > \*\*I don’t know this for sure, but I bet they still sell eggs by the dozen in Europe. \*\* Many things sold in boxes are presented in dozens sinply because it’s easier to pack them that way - 3x4 is a nice, manageable shape (although egg boxes are often 2x6 which might as well be 2x5, but the first producer to pack them this way will lose trade, as people will think they are getting less for their money) There was a ‘new’ method of grading the sizes of eggs introduced a number of years back; sizes 1 to 5 with 1 being the largest (IIRC), but we seem to have reverted back to Small, Medium, Large, which makes much more sense. If you buy online at Tesco (not sure about the other online supermarkets), you can still buy your produce in pounds/ounces\*; the software does the conversion and their picking list comes out in kilogrammes, it’s quite clever. \*With most items, you can choose from Each/Ounce/Pound/Gramme/Kilo - I’ve often wondered what would happen if I ordered a single grape. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-measurements-are-not-done-metrically-in-the-eu/84323.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-measurements-are-not-done-metrically-in-the-eu/84323.md?page=3)