The foods in shops are all in metric. Tesco however does at times give prices for loose foods (fruit and veg) per pound only or as the largest price figure, which is very confusing and unhelpful. All other shops are pretty much all metric, except for the small shops like small greengrocers and butchers, who are a mix of metric and imperial. Far too many are imperial, which is illegal.
Labels usually show amounts in rounded metric values. Supermarkets often give comparitive pricing, such as price per kg or price per 100g, on the shelf, although the actual product might have a mass of 1.5 kg, 500 g, etc. For things like frozen chips (French fries to Americans) there are still too many bags that are multiples of pounds, but usually only with kg weights shown, e.g. 907 g, 1.81 kg, 2.27 kg. Some chip manufacturers use bags of 1 kg or 1.5 kg.
Cows milk is also often in multiples of UK pints. I never buy it so cannot comment too much on that. I buy soya milk which has always been in cartons of 500 ml and 1 litre only. Water in bottles is always metric only as well, e.g. 500 ml, 1 litre, 2 litres, etc.
>>What about advertisements? Do you see them in imperial, metric, both?
Usually in metric. Apart from Tesco who use imperial for the fruit and veg at times. And TV sets are often quoted for screen sizes in inches for tube size, cm for viewable size. Computer screens seem to be always quoted in inches though (which is ironic since the computer industry could not exist in its present form without the metric system, e.g. requiring nanometres for measurement of circuitry, etc.)]
>>How much do you hear and see metric in the media compared to imperial?
Some newsreaders use metric, some imperial, some a mix. But more and more we are hearing things like metres, kilometres, kilograms in the news. TV programmes about people's weights though are usually using stones for weight (which I think is a bit more than 6 kg, but I have never used stones and don't know why people do).
>>Conversations with friends, coworkers, and strangers? How often do metric terms arise compared to imperial? Have you ever asked people if they are confused by the measurement muddle? Do you ever encounter people who get angry with you if you speak or use metric in their presence? Have you ever seen anyone upset because they wanted something in one system and it was only available in the other?
Some use metric, some imperial, but mostly people use a mixture of the both. They might quote a temp in Celsius (very rare now to hear people speak in Fahrenheit) and their height in feet and inches, volume of water in litres, and weight of things in kg except for body weights in stones. People are not usually upset when I use metric but often seem surprised I give weight in kg. Some claim to not understand, but they could if they made the effort.
>>What about your job? Do you use metric, imperial or both? What about the products your company produces, are they metric, imperial or both?
Currently unemployed, but in the last job I had they used mostly metric, but the people I worked for were not English, one from New Zealand, one from Sweden.
>>It would be nice if the UKMA or someone with an interest in metric could take an inventory of metric usage in the UK. I believe the USMA has done something like this for the USA. an inventory would help debunk many of the BWMA fantasies. If we can show how wide-spread metric is in the UK it may help in finalising the completion of the conversion.
Metric is certainly more widespread now than it was a year ago. Or maybe that is just my perception since taking a more keen interest in getting the UK to go metric. It certainly seems that it is being used more on TV and among English people.
David King
