>I was disappointed to observe that the script writers used >"pints" and "gallons" to refer to water volumes. > >Do our UK correspondents have any plausible explanations to offer?
The pint is still the only legal measure for *draught* beer. It is a fairly common size interval for milk containers in the supermarket. In most (but not all) cases where the container is pint sized, the label quotes the quantity in pints. Given the visibility of milk and beer, I don't think the pint will fade from UK consciousness until these products convert. I suspect that only older Brits have any idea of what a gallon actually is. The only time that I hear about it now is when talking about fuel consumption. Remember that country vets would be more likely to use older units because of their farming and other rural customers. >What's the state of metric usage in shows produced and aired in >the UK these days? You should join the UK mailing list. This issue is raised all the time. A recent discussion was about the use of stones and pounds versus kilograms on diet programmes. Metres and yards appear to be used interchangeably because they are so similar. This is one benefit of having used yards rather than feet on the roads. I think it is still more common for people to quote miles for longer distances.
