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I think hthe US should switch but I think it should be phased in gradually and have dual signage for everything for a long time until people get used to metric and then gradually take away the imperial signs. I see that some places in the US already have dual signage. I remember seeing some in California, so maybe it's already starting in some small form.
I believe those signs are from a time where metrication was starting up, but then stopped. Those are probably not new signs. In PA, NY, NJ, MD, DE, OH, IN, IL, MO, there are no metric signs. If what you saw are new signs, then it wouldn't surprise me if such signs were limited to areas where there is significant cross-border traffic
Anyone that uses "cuz" should be barred from voting. Yes, the US needs to switch to metric.
Same here, lol! I used to have a teenage sister (she's an adult now, not dead!) that used to spell every word that ended in g with a q. Apparently it was the rage back several years ago. Now she stopped, thank God, and doesn't cause text speak online. Why should you with smartphones being the norm these days? Words like cuz exist because if you are at least my age, you spelled cuz with 222-88-9999. I don't miss flip phones or simple bar phones
Laughing at this one. Here I am in a new car, having driven my old one for 23 years. Much new to learn, with all the changes that have improved the "driving experience" during that time. Much to learn.
Car needs to have the clock reset due to the end of DST. So I find the correct button and after a false start, manage to set the clock back an hour. Smugly, I continue on my way and with a quick glance at the dash, suddenly discover I'm doing 54 in a residential neighborhood where the limit is 25. OMG! I can't possibly be driving that fast. And then I see the little "km" and realize that the same button that controls the clock setting procedure also changes the mileage designation to kilometers. (BTW, is it kil AHM uhters or KILL um eaters?)
There's a lot to learn about my new car. What say we hold off on the changeover until I've mastered the essentials of 21st. century automotive technology?
Yes, we did cover the metric system many years ago in school, but it isn't an automatic transition from metric to Imperial after so many years of not using it.
Do it in phases, over time. The UK hasn't even fully switched over to metric yet, but we're nearly there. Everything is measured in grams/kilos, but we still measure distance/wind speed in miles for the most part.
Do it in phases, over time. The UK hasn't even fully switched over to metric yet, but we're nearly there. Everything is measured in grams/kilos, but we still measure distance/wind speed in miles for the most part.
Change mph to m/s for wind speed when you're at it.
Usually Celsius readings are expressed to the tenth. That's more than enough precise to me. It can be 25.1°C or 25.2°C, I don't feel the need for more information. Though I understand that if you're not used to it, you wouldn't want to use decimals. As for precision, inches are much worse than millimeters too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sedimenjerry
The general public really doesn't need to be switched over to metric. The average person won't need to jump a few orders of magnitude in daily life like going meters to microns. Yes 5,280 feet in a mile is weird and makes no sense whereas 1000 meters in a kilometer is incredibly simple but when does that ever come up where you just have to know how many feet in a mile? As a meteorology major all the calculations I do are in metric and have been since high school physics. When it comes to certain processes in the atmosphere I'm only comfortable with metric. The only time I see Fahrenheit is whenever I convert back to F to get an idea what temperature it is in a scale that my senses are used to. And that's the only time I ever see imperial units. Length, mass, volume, etc. are all in metric. Metric is certainly better for the sciences, engineering and other technical fields but it really just doesn't matter for everyone else if the speed limit is MPH or km/hr. Yes metric makes much more sense but it really doesn't matter if people are measuring out cups of water or milliliters.
This. I don't really see the benefit for the average Joe. Anyway, I'm not American and don't really care either way. Whatever fits you guys the best. That is, as long as you don't post angry comments about the use of Celsius on the C-D weather forum.
Change it to C. F is un-logical, you put a random number for freezing i.e. 32 and another i.e. 212 for boiling point. 0 and 100 makes much more sense for me.
Just so you know, the only two countries who are not using the metric system are Myanmar and Liberia.
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