Feet and inches!!!

I don't have a problem with using either set of measurements.

Imperial is based on various bits of the human body, so even without a measuring device I can make a fair estimate of the size if something and I'm usually right.

Metric is however based on something dreamed up by Napoleon - the distance from Paris to the North Pole!

Take your pick.

I assume you are moving back from France given your username.

I too moved back to the UK from France. Switching from French to English language wasn’t a problem and similarly Imperial to Metric no problem their either. It’s not terribly difficult.

@ Esspee - super response, thank you, much appreciated! Am 74 BTW and grew up in Croydon under Imperial.
But according to this, there is still loads of confusion :
In Britain, metrication was formally endorsed by the government in 1965, but the imperial system is still commonly used. The mix confuses shoppers, children and holiday makers. New YouGov research reveals the continuing extent of Britain's metric muddle.
Taken from Government website.

I have had some interesting experiences with on line shopping due to my brain being fixed on Imperial measurements.

If you have access to funds/a holiday home abroad/a motor home, it is probably tolerable to live in the UK.

For those who work in metric.... two quick points
There is a far greater chance of the displacement of a decimal point in, say , measuring out medicines than in the old irregular system when any discrepancy is far more obvious.
This may be out of date( ie it occurred a few years ago) but a friend converting property in France remarked that supplies in French DIY stores were being sold in Imperial measures for some items....I believe he could have mentioned dimensions of metal items. This was long after our comfortable Imperial systems were supposed to have been done away with

I would be horrified along with most Younger people if we went back to imperial money !!! The mistake was not converting everything else at the same time ! And for those of you who think this is a good reason to leave the EU , then this is another reason to despair of Leavers. Lets bring back Colonialism too whilst we’re at it .

Caused me a problem. I bought new fencing panels which were to fit in existing concrete posts. Two panels had to made as they were an odd size. When the panels were fitted they were 180 cm wide the old panels were 183 cm so my panels have been tied to the post as they blow out in the wind. I am having to buy strips of wood to screw to either side as the strong winds have broken the plastic ties!

And why are horses measured in "hands"? What on earth does that measure both length and widthways?

I am in the same position as you (going back to the UK after a number of years) I find some agents will put BOTH measurements on the property details ...if not you can always e mail and ask if you are interested in a property ...or convert the measurements....I have found most agents prepared to answer ALL my questions (and there are a lot !) as of course if they make a sale, they make their commission ...so just ask …….

If you've grown up with Imperial, including at school, presumably you're more likely to still think in lbs and ozs, etc., even if you're perfectly able to cope with metric.

If you grew up with metric, esp. at school, you're going to think in metric.
So eventually those of us who think in Imperial will all be 6 feet under - or 1 point X metres - or else turned to ashes at X degrees C.

I can cope with metric, but I still convert in my head e.g. 100g to roughly 4 ounces.
I still can't think in C temps - except for 16C which I instantly know = 61F.

Didn't some US space mission go disastrously wrong because participants were at cross purposes - one using metric and the other Imperial?

I still use imperial measurements- no clue what metres & grammes are. Luckily my kitchen scales do both so I can use recipes in metric without understanding them at all.
I would have no clue what my rooms are if not in feet & inches.
Obviously you have had to use metric wherever you have been living but we still use feet & inches here. I was an Estate Agent for a while & I remember the hoo-ha when we started putting both measurements on sales details. Totally confused everyone so we went back to just feet & inches.

There is a hotel in Birmingham that has a linking bridge. There was a problem when it was being built, it wasn't long enough, as I understand that measurements were in metric and materials in imperial (or vice versa).

Quizqueen, the EU have given up trying to convert us to metric - it doesn’t rule us entirely, you know - a common mistake!

Patchwork and quilting tend to use imperial measurements as a lot of the equipment and patterns are from the USA and they still use feet and inches. You have to be quite adept at transferring between the fabric in metres and the patterns in inches. I suppose it is a good workout for the brain!

Why should the UK use the metric system? A lot of the world still uses the imperial measures. Hopefully, the EU will not be in charge of us for much longer and we can do what we like without permission from Brussels.

Although, I can work things out, in my head, in metres and cms as easily as feet and inches, I still struggle envisaging measures with capacity and weight in metric so don't really bother with it and stick to pounds and ounces and pints.

Our local sweet shop was forced to ditch its old scales and buy expensive new metric ones. The customers still ask for ‘a quarter of’....whatever, but are given 100 grams, which is slightly less.

The main drawback with metric, I think, is that it is too easy to make a mistake with the decimal point. It was very amusing in The Apprentice when one team did this. They ended up ordering a flag the size of a handkerchief, by mistake.

It wasn’t funny when a baby died because a nurse accidentally gave it a dose of medicine which was 10 times what it should have been.

In spite of having taught maths and being more than capable of converting between the two systems, I still find it easier to visualise dimensions in feet and inches. Probably the same for most of us who learned the imperial measurements at school - they are embedded in our brains and refuse to be ousted!

I am a 'dyed in the wool' Brit and see no reason for 'why' mend what isn't broken' just to suit, thankfully and in a minority, those who observe the UK as backward.
The world is large so take your pick and give space to the many and those yet to arrive who from far and wide appreciate us and want to make the UK their home warts and all...

I can see in my mind what a pound of something looks like and its the same with measurements. I know that a litre is about two pints so by asking for 500 ml I know I am asking for a pint. My brain still see everything in imperial measurements and if I ask in metric then my brain converts it. Nothing wrong with this.

Until we oldies have popped our clogs, what’s wrong with a dual system Esspee? I’m in my 80th year so am heavily Imperial but so long as the metric measurement in question continues to have its imperial equivalent in brackets, I’m happy. I love the idea of being ‘bi-numeral’ as a sort of bi-lingual - I have eight grandchildren who happily use both, so let’s stay our eccentric selves and keep both.

Evianers - if you're thinking of moving to a different country maybe you should try to be more flexible in your approach. Many things will be different to what you're used to but it doesn't mean they are wrong!

I mainly use imperial measurements.
There was a young woman on a weight loss programme on tv a few months ago - the presenter said, "You've lost x number of kilos" and immediately was asked, "What's that in old money?" It's not just we old'uns who can't get their heads round it.

I'm just one month away from being 70. At primary school it was all feet and inches, pounds shillings and pence and pounds and ounces. I couldn't believe how much easier it was in secondary school when everything changed to metric. Surely to goodness people aren't still weighing themselves in pounds and ounces? I know what weather to expect in Deg. C but mention Fahrenheit and I have only the roughest idea.
OP we must be youngsters on this site. Ignore the rude old biddies on here, welcome back. We need young minded grans.

How tall are you? Most people here even if they are using metric still refer to their height in feet and inches.

Sorry but you will just have to get use to a dual system.