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back to article Britannia triumphs over Johnny Metric

The EU will abandon all pretentions to enforce its filthy metric system on Britain, thereby guaranteeing once-and-for-all an Englishman's right to sup ale in pints, buy spuds by the pound, and measure the distance between the greengrocer and the boozer in miles. That's according to the BBC, which says the European Commission …

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  1. Stephen Jenner

    For the anon writer who suggested that the Sun had done its work........

    This is what the EU has to say about bananas........

    Commission Regulation Number 2257/94 section III has the following to say about bananas:

    “SIZING

    Sizing is determined by:

    - the length of the edible pulp of the fruit, expressed in centimetres and measured along the convex face from the blossom end to the base of the peduncle,

    - the grade, i.e. the measurement, in millimetres, of the thickness of a transverse section of the fruit between the lateral faces and the middle, perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis.

    The reference fruit for measurement of the length and grade is:

    - the median finger on the outer row of the hand,

    - the finger next to the cut sectioning the hand, on the outer row of the cluster.

    The minimum length permitted is 14 cm and the minimum grade permitted is 27 mm.

    As an exception to the last paragraph, bananas produced in Madeira, the Azores, the Algarve, Crete and Lakonia which are less than 14 cm in length may be marketed in the Community but must be classified in Class II. “

    Forget the BBC and EU Euromyth propaganda, you can find the above on the Europa website.

    So Verheugen is being a little bit mealy mouthed when he says that this does "not matter"......

    To the bureaucrats of the EU, every single little minor detail matters!

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  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Its Logical (Captain)

    Like many people posting above, I am comfortable using both systems, and don't really fancy the idea of buying anything other than a pint at my local (OK, here in Spain, its usually 'un cerveza grande' but I still think of it as a pint).

    One thing I cannot argue with though, is the logic behind the metric system; 1 Litre of water has a volume of 10^3cm (1000 cubic cm) and weighs 1 kilogram.

    Unfortunately, my UK schools did not feel the need to enlighten me to this fact when they taught us weights & measures...

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  3. alistair millington

    @WHY?

    "The US aside, what other country has such a warped, self-indignant sense of nationality to the point where it is so resistant to agreement and co-operation on an international level? The rest of the world must surely on with a mixture of pity and confusion."

    France - Take your pick of world issues where they sit on a fence. Farmer strikes at changes to the Common Agricultural Policy that is bankrupting the EU. "Block Calais that will get what we want." Immigration camps at the entrance to the tunnel, aiding them on their journey here. I am only just warming up.

    Spain - Gibraltor, They want to remain British, 98% democratic vote but Spain won't give up. (Remember goat island off the coast of morocco for double standards) The EU law that says you can carry wine and spirits in any amount for personal use. You try that on the gibraltor border where they confiscate over a litre.

    China - Tibet and Taiwan issues, Tibet was invaded you know. The american 3rd fleet guards Taiwan from invasion andthe constant missile "tests".

    Russia - Chechnya being independent.

    Austrailia - Building the first concrete runway in Antarctica for tourism. Bet you didn't know that.

    Israel and Palestine.

    I am not even listing rogue states. Pick a country and you can find something to blow your agument out the water.

    Hans,

    We adopted a lot from France because we owned half of it hundreds of years ago before Joan of Arc. Let's not go down the road of words in France they got from us. We wouldn't be us if it wasn't for some French invading in 1066 and France wouldn't be French if it wasn't for us in the world wars etc etc. The list goes on back and forth with various countries playing a part. Lighten up.

    Who cares about pints and measurements, the EU spent 25 years in legal battles trying to stop Cadbury selling there because they didn't think it was chocolate. It is now called Family chocolate. So this is small fry in cash and time wasted.

    Let's concentrate on better things that actually matter in life, like our army under equipped, the climate, the madman in the white house,

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  4. David Cantrell

    Imperialist!

    I was going to celebrate by drinking a bottle of Old Imperialist ale, but then I noticed that it came in a half litre bottle.

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  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Re: Human Measurements

    quote

    Re earlier post: The advantage to Imperial units is they are based on human measurements (inch=roughly the size of a thumb, foot is obvious, yard is the length of an arm) and are therefore easy to visualize.

    I don't know what size your body is, but my thumbs are definitely over 2 inches long, and my arms are about 5-6 inches shorter than 1 yard, hand and fingers included. Only the foot seems reasonably accurate, but only if you have big feet.

    /quote

    An inch is roughly the WIDTH of your thumb, not the length, a yard is the length of an outstretched arm to your nose (when looking straight ahead); although a meter just involves turning your head away from said arm.

    Now, I think we should bring back the cubit... defined as the length from elbow to fingertips but those french 'standardised' it to 18 inches.

    By the way, 12 inches in a foot is easy - the word inch comes from the latin uncae meaning 'a twelfth'

    Also, some primary schools are starting to teach kids both systems. I was only ever taught metric, but still use imperial where it is good - if you want an approximate length, inches are perfect - 10 inches vs 250mm.

    And there is nothing wrong with having something 1 meter 3 inches long.

    Let me also point out that cm is not an SI unit - only 10^3 is included so it goes mm -> m, the cm was only devised for teaching because the young can't come with the huge gap... you don't get that problem with imperial.

    Now, what's wrong with awg for measuring wire thicknesses?

    And why do we have to measure frequency in Hertz? Cycles per second tells you exactly what is happening!

    The comment about KW vs BHP - KW is only for use in electrical situations, the metric for BHP (ie engines) is the PS (or Pferdestärke - german for horse strength) - 1.013PS=1BHP - british horses are stronger than german ones, so lets keep the british horse power!!!

    Lets have imperial for where it relates to the body (esp pints), metric where it relates to the french - 9mm pistols and 200mm cannons spring to mind.

    For the record, I'm 24 cycles round the sun old.

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  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @Erlang Lacod

    With respect old sir with a very big house. You are an idiot.

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  7. WAYNE SCHARF

    What's really wrong with metric...

    What's really wrong with metric is that the units are all of an inconvenient size...if you were to fabricate something to within a thousandth of an inch, that is readily achievable...but the metric equivalent is a rudely ungainly quantity that you will probably not get "right on..." even if you can remember it...

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  8. John Renouf

    Unsuccessful vs successful metric

    For a moment take away the argument of whether metric/SI is good or bad ....... In Australia and New Zealand beginnning in 1966 and ending in late 1970s, currency was changed (1966), then temperature (1969), ALL road signs changed (1973) in NZ in conjunction with the Oil shock which meant 60 mph was temporarily replaced by 80 km/h (50 mph) which we had to put up with for many years afterwards until in the late 80s when we finally got 100 km/h as a max. speed limit. Metric weights and measures were phased in for a few years only from 1974 to 1977/78 and absolute compliance was expected after that. Builders changed to metric, land has been measured in metric since 1975 or so ..... Holy smoke, was it popular? Not always probably, but it was done successfully with no double-up mess like you have in the UK. Since the late 70s the Imperial system has faded out in various spheres, stones are forgotten forever, miles are units used elsewhere (in the USA/UK), pounds are gone .... the fade out has been gradual. In the 90s a rugby player's vital stats read: Jim Honey - 6'2'' (188 cm), 105 kg - whereas now the even the feet and inches have gone. What the UK needs to do is complete the changeover and allow the Imperial 'fade out' to happen naturally as it does and has done here.

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  9. oldfartuk

    its to do with culture

    thats why e have a different measurement system. Its the same reason why a lot of things english are different from Europe, mainly because we invented it first.......personally, i like being different to Europe, because being the same is just one more nail the coffin of national identity....

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  10. David Paul Morgan

    I don't think this is right...

    "The sentimental attachment to pints is an utter nonsense. My favourite bar in Glasgow serves in 500ml glasses and 1L steins. Pints are an option, but why would I buy 568ml of beer?"

    It's illegal in britain to sell (loose!) beer in anything other than the imperial pint or half-pint. Hence the closure of the Australian bar that tried to sell in half-litre glasses.

    I quite like the Cologne "Koelsch" which they serve in a 200ml glass - but with enough space to allow for the head - unlike bloody britain with its undersize 568ml glasses!

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