Imperial measurements

I think I'm finally on the cusp of getting this metric thing. I am OK with metres, I just visualise a yard as being nearly the same, and kilometres, because I lived and drove on the continent for several years. I could never visualise mms for some reason and my partner insists on measuring things in mm not inches. However I have been helping my grandson with his maths recently and I have learnt the mantra 10 mm to 1 cm; 100 cm to 1 m and 1000 m to 1 km. Makes sense now. Better late than never.

Also I'm weighing myself in kilos instead of stones now because that is the only readout I can see clearly on my scales now.

Back in the early 70s, I was given my baby's weight first in kilos, which were then converted in to lbs.

As mentioned earlier, I used to do lots of weight conversions at work, and when the nurse told me his weight first in kilos and then in lbs, I knew she had got the lb figure wrong wrong and as I was wheeled down to the ward , with my new son, I lay there trying to do the conversion in my head and wishing I had my slide rule with me. It turned out he had weighed 4.05kg and the nurse had given me the imperial conversion for 4.5kg so she over estimated his weight by a lb.

Not any more. My 6 month old grandson was slightly under 4 kg when he was born.

Aren't babies' birthweights still predominantly described in pounds?

I am equally handy in each. Thanks to a job many years ago when I spent a lot of my time recalculating metric, imperial and US ton(ne)s into US, imperial and metric ton(ne)s.

However, I still use imperial for cooking, prefer imperial for room sizes but work in both for buying fabrics and making things and, when in France, always 'shorten' journeys by converting kilometres into miles .

I use both, though tend more towards imperial.

I can do metres if necessary... but would rather not.

For cooking I still use a probably Victorian scales with the usual 1/2 oz to 2 lb weights - I expect people think it's a decoration, but it isn't!

All these years and I still haven't gone decimal.

Same here mrsmopp!

Oh I can do the conversions but hate having to. I can visualise a yard, four yards, 100 yards even. 12 metres means NOTHING to me.

Same problem with kilometres. Miles make sense and I know how far I am going in miles. Tell me something is 39 kms away and I haven't a clue (until I work it out.)

2 metres - sorry
fat finger, not my maths!

DH asked for 6ft of 2 x 4 timber, the man at the timber merchants said 'oh, we only deal with metric. Do you want 3 metres?" (of 2" x 4")

I use both metric and imperial in the kitchen. My scales have both on the dial. I think in Celsius for temperature though, both oven and air. However, when I'm crocheting I use inches even if the pattern is in cms. I use a conversion table on the internet.

My husband used to talk in mm., even in room sizes.

I always use Imperial. I can't visualise the amounts in decimal. And as to converting one to the other! Anyway most of my cookery books are in lbs and ounces

A lot of folk, even in their twenties or thirties, prefer room measurements in imperial - eg 12 feet by 15 feet which they find easier to visualise although they probably never encountered imperial measures at school.

The building industry has been metric for more that fifty years and yet builders will still talk in a mixture of metric and imperial - eg "I need 3 metres of the 2 (inch) by 4 (inch) timber"

The most puzzling thing for me is that we put litres of petrol into our tanks but measure the car's consumption in miles per gallon. Help!

Do you remember the sums we used to have at school.

Fifteen pounds seven shillings and four pence halfpenny, take away Nine pounds fifteen shillings and three pence ! I'm not sure I could do them now.

Metric for dressmaking. Imperial for patchwork

Have given up on rods,poles,perches, cwt and tons but still use pints, inches and miles.

Try teaching metric units to children, when you can only think in imperial measurements.

I think in inches / feet, and miles ( have to mentally convert) but think in Celsius never Fahrenheit now, but always in stones lbs and ozs also pints although I get litre bottles of drink so like Jalima both I guess with a dominance to imperial but we spent years going over and over it at school and I think it’s also because we ve never fully gone over as a country have we ? We still get pints in the pub, clothes are still in inches, and miles rub along with km We completely gave up £sd so had to revert to decimalisation sink or swim

I haven’t a clue about metric measures, I have a chart in the kitchen to translate for me! My DD once told me that a car had missed her by 22 cms, I wasn’t sure what expression to have on my face.......... although I do go into my fabric store and buy 2 metres of 54 inch fabric and they seem to understand.

I think in both; however, I always think of distances in miles (or hours!).

I wish my waist was 26" - or even 66 cms which does sound a lot larger.