Why do the Dutch still use inches?

[Archie_tect]

You can measure anything in metric.

 

[Stu9]

We use both in the US. Engine sizes are given mostly in liter now...yeah I know, we spell it different. My truck is 4.2 L v6. I don't even know what cubic inch it is. Just look on a U.S. new car manufacturer website, most are using L now. I grew up on cubic inches. The metric system is just part of a communist plot to take over the world. Oh and it also allows tool manufacturers to sell more tools. So the capitalist are getting in on the action too.

Oh right.....why would she say that then....plus I've watched a few programmes, overhaulin' ect and they've never mentioned metric, or if they have I've never heard....I'll let her know

 

[PeteXXX]

I'd rather have a litre of cider than a pint!! It's much more......

 

[RWright]

Oh right.....why would she say that then....plus I've watched a few programmes, overhaulin' ect and they've never mentioned metric, or if they have I've never heard....I'll let her know

Not knowing your sister I don't know, but I will take a guess and say because she is female and doesn't know any better and probably doesn't care. If what you are watching shows them building old muscle cars and such they still might be using Cubic Inch. A lot of people still do on older cars because that is what they were called when new. With the new stuff (maybe last 10 years or so is my guess, but it could be longer) it is very rare to find engine's discussed in Cubic Inch, there are exceptions but very few. Just look at www.ford.com and see how many engines you find cubic inches for.

I am not saying we know the metric system that well. I will even go so far as to say most people would know their engine size in liter but would not have a clue how many cc's it is. I may be wrong but I am a glass half empty type of person.

Edit: I better say most people my age would not know. I have no clue what kids have been taught in school the past 30 years.

 

[DooDah]

[QUOTE 2526041, member: 259"]Same everywhere for screen sizes on monitors and TVs too. It's just traditional.

And the US uses cubic centimeters for engine sizes.

"Go figure" as they say.[/quote]
In france they use metric for screens and tvs, but the uk is inches

 

[Stu9]

She's quite clued up, or I thought she was....I just VERY annoyed here, they mix it up ie they talk in inches ect them switch to metric...I think it was you that said it's just one big capitalist rip off....I agree

 

[DooDah]

[QUOTE 2526351, member: 259"]They always use the inches first and only sometimes bother with the CM afterwards. All the standard sizes are expressed in pouces first.

Look at FNAC: for instance: http://www.fnac.com/TV-LED/Par-technologie/nsh129044/w-4#bl=MMtvh,

or Amazon: http://www.amazon.fr/Samsung-UE46ES...?s=home-theater&ie=UTF8&qid=1372592471&sr=1-1

I disagree. Any shop, supermarket, brochures, posted flyers always advertise in cms. Internet sites may also advertise in inches (pouces) but they tend to be international sites despite the .fr suffix.
http://www.fnac.com/TV-LED/Par-technologie/nsh129044/w-4#bl=MMtvhIt's the same (or even more so) with computer screens. And I don' think I've ever heard anyone referrring to a screen size in centimetres in conversation. [/quote]

 

[Kookas]

It's the same for measuring distance, Why does the UK still use miles when most of the world have switched to kilometers?

I know - and Google has the nerve to force me to use the screwed up British system whenever I use Google Maps. I want to switch to fully Metric, even if no-one else does.

 

[ayceejay]

Back in the day a 'deuce and a quarter' was a Buick with a 225 cu. inch engine and fans of those cars still refer to them that way, however modern day US engines are measured in litres.

 

[avalon]

I know - and Google has the nerve to force me to use the screwed up British system whenever I use Google Maps. I want to switch to fully Metric, even if no-one else does.

The UK measuring systems must be the most messed up in the world, not being able to make up it's mind whether it has gone metric or not. Even Southern Ireland managed to switch to kilometers.

 

[green1]

What really pi55es me off is when I'm watching something on the likes of Dicovery and they talk about a train or plane ect, they'll say "it's about 50 tons and 60 metres long"....ffs sake keep to one of the other

The really annoying thing is when they convert something to metric that shouldn't be like altitude.

 

[green1]

It's the same for measuring distance, Why does the UK still use miles when most of the world have switched to kilometers?

Because it's french.

 

[User169]

Perhaps OT but when I first lived in France I was surprised to hear ladies in the market asking for "un livre" of eg tomatoes (actually 500g but they called it a pound)

Same in Holland - 500g is a "pond"

 

[GilesM]

The UK measuring systems must be the most messed up in the world, not being able to make up it's mind whether it has gone metric or not. Even Southern Ireland managed to switch to kilometers.

Still pints in the pub last time I was there though.

But if you want something that's really mixed up, how about car tyre sizes:
http://www.driverstechnology.co.uk/Tyre-size-coding.htm

Point is, most places have used a mixture of the two systems for years and it seems to work.

 

[Stu9]

The UK measuring systems must be the most messed up in the world, not being able to make up it's mind whether it has gone metric or not. Even Southern Ireland managed to switch to kilometers.

I agree....but if we do change, it'll be gauranteed it'll be kms and it'll cause a fkn uproar, it was bad enough in 71 or 2 when we went decimal, my mother (and plenty others) went daft trying to work it out. Then in 82 or 3 going from gals to litres....it's all capitalist rip offs/cons