# Will the US ever go metric? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 20, 2006, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-us-ever-go-metric/349187 "2006-03-20T20:00:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Foybal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/fbc32d/32.png) [@Foybal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foybal)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-us-ever-go-metric/349187/1 "2006-03-20T20:00:13Z")
Seems like as less and less stuff is made here there’s not much choice. The argument that metric will be confusing to Red staters won’t impress Walmart. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-us-ever-go-metric/349187/2 "2006-03-20T20:30:10Z")
Yes, slowly. ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-us-ever-go-metric/349187/3 "2006-03-20T20:54:56Z")
The process has already begun, although it has not progressed rapidly. For the past 25 years or so, it has been mighty difficult to buy a 1- or 2- quart bottle of soda. That’s held firm. Most physics classes are taught in metric. For a time, automobile speedometers were calibrated for mph and kph, although I don’t know if that’s held. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-us-ever-go-metric/349187/4 "2006-03-20T21:00:53Z")
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=363586](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=363586) - pretty much the same topic ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-us-ever-go-metric/349187/5 "2006-03-20T21:03:38Z")
To address the issues raised by the OP a little more directly… It’s not so much that our manufacturing has moved overseas. That’s been true for years. But now that many of our high-paying white-collar jobs are moving as well, replaced by poorer paying work, we will gradually become a less dominant market, just because collectively we won’t be able to buy as much. Then, at some point, the overseas companies that sell stuff here will just decide it’s a pain in the butt to print two sets of specs, and just go metric. One example that has already occurred is at the Body Shop cosmetics company (I worked for them about 15 years ago). They have a range of bottle sizes, and they used to be listed in ounces (1.5, 3.8, etc.). I was ust in there the other day, and everything was printed in their milliliter measurements (50, 100, 200, etc). ---
**Author:** ![specie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@specie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/specie)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-us-ever-go-metric/349187/6 "2006-03-20T21:20:23Z")
This business of “red states” rankles me. It’s not red vs. blue, but urban vs. rural. In the rural areas not many people have traveled to Mexico and Canada, and are therefore unaware that anyone uses metric. To them it’s still a theory, like evolution or space travel. But those of us in Red cities do quite fine, and will not be in trouble whatever Walmart decides. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-us-ever-go-metric/349187/7 "2006-03-20T21:24:11Z")
We’re Americans!!! We don’t wanna go metric!!! _Why do you think we fought the Cold War??!?_ ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-us-ever-go-metric/349187/8 "2006-03-20T22:03:14Z")
> [@specie](#): > > This business of “red states” rankles me. It’s not red vs. blue, but urban vs. rural. > In the rural areas not many people have traveled to Mexico and Canada, and are therefore unaware that anyone uses metric. To them it’s still a theory, like evolution or space travel. But those of us in Red cities do quite fine, and will not be in trouble whatever Walmart decides. He was taking a potshot at dumb, redneck Republicans. Ha, I get it! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![EEMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a6a055/32.png) [@EEMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EEMan)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-us-ever-go-metric/349187/9 "2006-03-20T22:07:52Z")
> [@specie](#): > > This business of “red states” rankles me. It’s not red vs. blue, but urban vs. rural. > In the rural areas not many people have traveled to Mexico and Canada, and are therefore unaware that anyone uses metric. To them it’s still a theory, like evolution or space travel. But those of us in Red cities do quite fine, and will not be in trouble whatever Walmart decides. How many in REALLY urban areas travel? It is a class thing (travelling), not a location; and you shouldn’t let people bait you. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-us-ever-go-metric/349187/10 "2006-03-20T23:25:37Z")
Now wait a microday, not even the Metric system is fully metric… Maybe we’re just waiting for the metric system to finish evolving before we adopt it? ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-us-ever-go-metric/349187/11 "2006-03-20T23:32:45Z")
Let us not forget the most important issue: the so-called metric system is actually the _Système International d’Unités_, and you know what that is? **French**. Need I say more? In seriousness, it seems to be happening already. I suspect length will be the last holdout. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2006, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-us-ever-go-metric/349187/12 "2006-03-21T00:07:13Z")
> [@scotandrsn](#): > > Most physics classes are taught in metric. “Most”? ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2006, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-us-ever-go-metric/349187/13 "2006-03-21T00:32:43Z")
> [@The Controvert](#): > > Now wait a microday, not even the Metric system is fully metric… My dictionary says “metric” (adj) means “of, relating to, or using the metric system”. So the metric system is, by definition, fully metric. If you meant it’s not fully decimal, so what? It’s mostly decimal, but that’s a secondary benefit. The main advantage of the metric system is that it’s an international standard. ---
**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:** [March 21, 2006, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-us-ever-go-metric/349187/14 "2006-03-21T05:15:17Z")
No, some things will never go metric. There’s just something sacred about the size of a football field. ---
**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 21, 2006, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-us-ever-go-metric/349187/15 "2006-03-21T05:25:30Z")
> [@Civil Guy](#): > > No, some things will never go metric. There’s just something sacred about the size of a football field. Yes, it’s a [hundred metres](http://members.shaw.ca/gw.peterson/metricfield.html) long, isn’t it? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2006, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-us-ever-go-metric/349187/16 "2006-03-21T07:24:09Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Yes, it’s a [hundred metres](http://members.shaw.ca/gw.peterson/metricfield.html) long, isn’t it? 😃 [Anything from 90m to 120m, actually](http://www.thefa.com/TheFA/RulesAndRegulations/FIFALawsOfTheGame/Postings/2002/05/12112.htm) 😃 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2006, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-us-ever-go-metric/349187/17 "2006-03-21T13:36:45Z")
From George Orwell’s “As I Please” column, published in the _Tribune,_ March 14, 1947: > [@](#): > > Another thing I am against in advance [in addition to simplified spelling] – for it is bound to be suggested sooner or later – is the complete scrapping of our present system of weights and measures. > > Obviously you have got to use the metric system of certain purposes. For scientific work it has long been in use, and it is also needed for tools and machinery, especially if you want to export them. But there is a strong case for keeping on the old measurements for use in everyday life. One reason is that the metric system does not possess, or has not succeeded in establishing, a large number of units that can be visualized. There is, for instance, effectively no unit between the metre, which is more than a yard, and the centimetre, which is less than half an inch. In English you can describe someone as being five feet three inches high, or five feet nine inches, or six feet one inch, and your hearer will know fairly accurately what you mean. But I have never heard a Frenchman say, “He is a hundred and forty-two centimetres high”; it would not convey any visual image. So also with various other measurements. Rods and acres, pints, quarts and gallons, pounds, stones and hundredweights, are all of them units with which we are intimately familiar, and we should be slightly poorer without them. Actually, in countries where the metric system is in force a few of the old measurements tend to linger on for everyday purposes, although officially discouraged. > > There is also the literary consideration, which cannot be left quite out of account. The names of the units in the old system are short homely words which lend themselves to vigorous speech. Putting a quart into a pint pot is a good image, which could hardly be expressed in the metric system. Also, the literature of the past deals only in the old measurements, and many passages would become an irritation if one had to do a sum in arithmetic when one read them, as one does with those tiresome versts in a Russian novel. > > The emmet’s inch and eagle’s mile > Make lame philosophy to smile: > > fancy having to turn that into millimetres! ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2006, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-us-ever-go-metric/349187/18 "2006-03-21T14:37:45Z")
> [@Civil Guy](#): > > No, some things will never go metric. There’s just something sacred about the size of a football field. See, now, this is a dumb argument. The size of a football field won’t change, it’ll just be defined in different units in a dusty rulebook that nobody reads. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2006, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-us-ever-go-metric/349187/19 "2006-03-21T16:13:48Z")
> [@Foybal](#): > > Seems like as less and less stuff is made here there’s not much choice. > The argument that metric will be confusing to Red staters won’t impress Walmart. Some stuff I don’t think will ever be metric. For example I think a football field will always be divided up by yards. I think the road system/automobiles will become increasingly dual-system however I don’t think standard measurements will die out there within my lifetime and probably not for years afterwards. I wouldn’t be surprised if more and more areas had signs which state the speed limit/distances in km/miles (which you see in some parts of the country quite a bit while it is completely foreign in other parts.) And someday the car’s speedomoter may list kilometers per hour as the more prominent than miles per hour. More and more students will be expected to know and understand both measurement systems. I wouldn’t be surprised if carpentry remains standard measurement for the foreseeable future. I think it’s easier to divide a board into 1/3s than it is into .333s. ---
**Author:** ![EEMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a6a055/32.png) [@EEMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EEMan)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2006, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-us-ever-go-metric/349187/20 "2006-03-21T16:31:02Z")
> [@Lemur Catta](#): > > Let us not forget the most important issue: the so-called metric system is actually the _Système International d’Unités_, and you know what that is? **French**. > > Need I say more? > > In seriousness, it seems to be happening already. I suspect length will be the last holdout. Actually the ‘Metric’ system and the SI system are slightly different (though share most of the same basic building blocks). And the SI system is what SHOULD be being taught in Physics (and every science) class. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-us-ever-go-metric/349187.md?page=2)