[jezza]

hello as any one made mistakes with metric imperial conversions  recently the grave digger that works in my church yard was given measurements of 240x120x70 he marked it out then started cursing he thought it was in inches it actually translates into 240cm long 70cm wide120 depth a single depth jezza

[mrs bouquet]

Would I be considered 'out of order' to laugh a little at that.   I always ask people measurements in inches please.   When I am considering buying something on line I have to sit with the tape in front of me so that I can convert.   Its an age thing.    Mrs Bouquet

[wapello]

  YES, but i will say no as well, i don't want to dig a hole  i cannot get out of or upset all the young ladies
  on this forum,,,    

[Plot 1 Problems]

I'm lucky in that my brain can automatically convert weights to a rough accuracy, same with temperatures. But the moment someone talks to me about kilograms I'm doomed And I'm under 40!

[al78]

I don't know why some people have such a problem with metric measurements. Our everyday numbering system is base ten, so it makes sense to have a base ten measurement system for compatibility.

[Plot 1 Problems]

I don't know why some people have such a problem with metric measurements. Our everyday numbering system is base ten, so it makes sense to have a base ten measurement system for compatibility.

Sure, but I get design plans from both people in Europe and the States so I have to be able to work with both. Personally I like the standardisation of tool measurements in the US.

[lettice]

Was taught at school in the 60s in feet and inches, lbs and ounces, but we were taught Celsius when some schoolkids were taught Fahrenheit.
When it comes to cooking and recipes, its a very mixed world, bit of everything.
My weather hobby is a mixed world, we measure rain in mm, wind speed, gust and run in mph, temp in Celsius and cloud height in feet.
Having worked for a big US company most of my working life, with plenty of IT publishing that it entailed, Imperial was the way.

I still do everything in feet and inches and can roughly work out the conversion.  I use google assistant on the phone/tablet often to make it easy.
Imperial is much easier to measure though in my view.

[Goosegirl]

Roughly speaking, 2.5cm = 1" so 25cm = 10". As the distance gets bigger it gets more inaccurate but it's ok for small measurements.

[Plot 1 Problems]

Roughly speaking, 2.5cm = 1" so 25cm = 10". As the distance gets bigger it gets more inaccurate but it's ok for small measurements.

The scientist in me is currently twitching after reading that

[snowdrops]

 :wacko:I think of a ft ruler as being 30cms & a yard as being 3” smaller than a metre, that’ll make you twitch Plot 1😂

[mumofstig]

I think of a ft ruler as being 30cms & a yard as being 3” smaller than a metre, that’ll make you twitch Plot 1😂

I was taught Imperial so I remember the measurements I often use...  8ins = 20cm for planting distances and 4ft = 1.2m for allotment bed width 

In the kitchen I'm ok with weights (only because my scales easily swap between g/oz  ) and still think of my milk in pints -  but I really don't like cup measure recipes something that makes no sense to me at all 

[Veg Plot 1B]

 "think of a ft ruler as being 30cms & a yard as being 3” smaller than a metre"

I thought a Yard was a concrete garden in the states? lol

[mumofstig]

I have a back yard.... (it was paved in stone, til someone decided to concrete over it    )

[JayG]

Don't know why, but I still convert C to F, and have been doing so for so long that I know all the numbers commonly found in the UK off by heart.

Have to concentrate quite hard when using a metric tape measure to not get cm and mm mixed up, and do tend to use 2.5mm as an approximation for an inch (but not when accuracy matters, he added hastily!)

As for weights, I've more or less stopped converting grams to ounces every time I buy goods , and when cooking I use 30g as an approximation for an ounce (the error doesn't seem to cause problems when using small quantities.)
As for American 'cups' I agree with MoS - drives me a) nuts, b) straight to an online converter! 

Veg Plot 1B: Americans seem to use 'yard' as a term meaning 'garden', whether it's one yard, 10 yards (or even 9.144 metres!)

[New shoot]

I was taught metric measurements and weights at school, but obviously all the road signs here are in miles, so kilometres needs a bit of mental arithmetic.  Temperatures are C as far as I am concerned - F means nothing to me

As for American 'cups' I agree with MoS - drives me a) nuts, b) straight to an online converter! 

I bought a set of cup measures for a few quid and life became suddenly much simpler.  My scales convert from imperial to metric, which is handy as I have some old recipes I use.