The UKMA has coined the term "a very British mess" for the "metric muddle" (as they also say) in the UK right now.
Little did I realize how bad things actually were until I saw this post on Metric Views ( http://metricviews.org.uk ) from which I pass along the key excerpt (as a comment to the Old Habits Die Hard post): [I]t is quite normal for UK people to use kg for weight gain, however weight LOSS is measured in stones, get it right please!! Kg for gain, stones for loss, right? Distances of less than a few metres are given in feet, thereafter in metres. Longer distances are of course in miles. Lengths of less than 30 cm are in inches until it is down to 3 cm, then it is OK to use mm so long as it is compared to a finger nail or something. Degrees Celsius (centigrade to me) is used in winter, Fahrenheit in summer, that makes it all sound better. Snowfall is in cm up to about 2.5 cm, then in inches or even feet if it is in USA. Flood water is always in feet, it sounds better then metres. Tide height is metres as is normal water depth, unless it is very deep, then feet sound better. What a shame they've let things slide so badly over there. If we ever get started in a serious way here, let's hope we follow the good examples of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, etc. instead. -- Ezra
