I know my place, I have the bruises to prove it.
I wonder how many youngsters now, would even know what an Ironmongers is?
Youâll all be wanting pounds, shillings and pence nextâŠ
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And yet another thing - whatâs with all these awful 3-pin plugs now ey?
Darmn stupid things have hardly anything to get hold of to pull 'em out the socket now.
They infuriate me too.
Iâm in full swing with me rant tonight. 
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Hah. Iâll have you know young man, that the money is about the only thing I am OK with. 
If you are a bloke you might say, â yeh mateâŠstraight ahead till you reach The Boars Head, then take the next left go along there till you get to the Kings Head turn left at the chippies, and itâs right thereâŠok?â
Yeah, I bet thatâs about right as well. 
Nothing wrong with a couple of pints and a bag o chipsâŠ
Regarding those stupid plugs again though, I understand there is a gadget you can buy to grip them with to yank 'em out properly, but surely there should never have been a need to make a gadget in the first place if theyâd left the plugs as theyâve always been. Grrr. . . .
50mm = 2 inches
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Iâm also an inch, feet and yard person, Mups âŠâŠ and pints, quarts and gallons.
No way will I change now! 
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Do yâknow folks, I am so glad I started this thread, because I donât feel so inadequate at my befuddlement anymore.
I am so pleased there are others who feel the same. x x
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Imperial for me as well. Even my tape measure is in inches, heaven help me if I ever lose it. Not so long ago at the vets I had to put Dageus on their scales and I had no idea what the weight was. I had to write it down and Google it when I got home. He was just under 6 stone.
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Remember the old fractions? 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16 - each one smaller than the previous one? 0.5, 0.4, 0.2, 0.1 etc is the same thing - each one smaller than the previous one.
For future reference, if you can remember that 300 mm is approx 1 foot, you should be able to work out other sizes.
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Yes Rox, quite right, and thatâs another thing inflicted upon us, as well. 
Thank you Judsy, I think I might remember what you said about the 0.4, etc , but the other one about how many mmâs in feet, will be long gone by the time I wake up in the morning. 
Naw, Iâll stick with my own way of coping. 
When i first came to Australia the country was just changing to metric units and with hindsight the way they did it was excellent. I say âwith hindsightâ because I too hated the change. I was at school in the UK when they started the first of their many bungles toward metric, first it was CGS units, then MKS units and, I presume, they finally settled on SI units, nobody stuffs up change better than the British.
What they did here was ban all references to the old system, no stating the temperature in the weather forecast in both Celsius and Fahrenheit, no lbs or ounces in the shops, 8ft by 4ft wall panels were still the same size but referred to in mm - it was metric only everywhere. Importing rulers with inches on them was totally banned, the road signs were changed virtually over night. Imperial measurements were never mentioned again.
Because of this even objectors like me learned the metric system because we had no choice and now I am so glad they did it this way rather than muddling along with both systems as has happened in the UK.
I still lapse, I might say to my kids something like, âMove it a couple of inches toward me.â The object in question could then move anything from a centimetre to foot! My daughter once asked me, âWhat are lumbs and ozzies?â. On the whole I much prefer metric.
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OK, here are my comments on the metric system
For years Britain and its Empire used The Imperial System, hence the name
From time to time there were discussions about changing to the Metric System, but nothing much came of it, though it was increasingly adopted by the scientific community
Then after the Second World War the idea of changing became more serious because -
The British Empire was breaking up, so Britain was increasingly looking to trade with other countries, especially in Europe
Computerisation was just around the corner
Thus it was fairly obvious that Britain would need to change both the Imperial System to Metric and the currency from pounds, shillings and pence - ÂŁsd to decimal currency
So Britain officially adopted the Metric System in 1965, but the government decided to make it a gradual change as this would be less disruptive, and cheaper
The idea was that as new generations were taught Metric at school, machines were renewed, shops & manufacturers changed packaging, and so on, the change to Metric would happen naturally over just a few years, certainly within a new generation of school kids
Well that was the plan, but as we know it didnât happen like that, and we now have a silly and confusing mixture of Imperial and Metric
Compare this with places like Canada, India, & Australia where the change was done properly, completely, and fairly quickly
My opinion is that the sooner we get rid of the old fashioned units and adopt the Metric System completely, the better
I voted Leave, and I have no wish to return to the EU, but its not about that
I think the Metric System is better, and also it is used all over the world
Although the USA is now the only country that hasnât officially adopted the Metric system, I have American friends who tell me that it is becoming more common
I use grams & kilos for weighing, metres, cm, & mm for decorating, DIY, carpentry, litres for milk & petrol and so on
I must admit that Iâm not yet completely familiar with some units, such as kilometres for distances & driving, but thatâs because we hardly use them; Iâm sure that will improve as I get more familiar
I was taught and have used both systems, but I find that I prefer Metric.
It was obvious that we couldnât run ÂŁsd & decimal at the same time, so that was done completely & quickly
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