Dear Jerry,
You might be interested to know that there are six Imperial measures
that are still available for use in the UK. Source: http://www.nwml.gov.uk/docs/legislation/units%20of%20measurement/gnotes%20for%20public%20sector%20on%20use%20of%20metric.pdf
where you will note that:
i pints are only for returnable containers
ii mile, yard, feet, and inches are only for road signs; the roads are
built using metric units such as millimetres andf metres
iii foot is legal for use in aircraft even though the global
positioning systems all use metres
iv the nautical mile mentioned here is the metric nautical mile of
exactly 1852 metres
v this troy ounce is the metric troy ounce defined as 31.1034768 grams
vii acres are, I believe, no longer legal for land transactions in the
UK
Appendix 1
Imperial Units Of Measurement Available For Primary Use After 1
October 1995
Some imperial units remain available as the primary system of
measurement for certain specific uses, either without time limit or no
later than 31 December 1999. The units and their uses are as follows:
a. Imperial units of measurement to be used without time limit.
i. pint for sales of draught of beer or cider and for milk sold in
returnable containers; ii. mile, yard, foot and inch for road traffic
signs and for related distance and speed measurements; iii. foot in
aircraft heights and other units used in the field of air and sea
transport and rail traffic, which have been laid down in international
conventions etc (see Article 2 of Directive 80/181); iv. nautical mile
and knot for sea and air traffic; v. troy ounce for transactions in
precious metals; vi. acre for land registration
b. Imperial units of measurements which may be used no later than 31
December 1999
i. pound and ounce for goods sold loose from bulk (eg fruit and
vegetables not sold in pre-packs); ii. therm for gas supply; iii.
fathom for marine nagivation; iv. fluid ounce and pint for sales of
beer, cider, water, lemonade and fruit juice in returnable containers
On 2009/01/31, at 1:48 PM, Jeremiah MacGregor wrote:
Stephen,
Why would it say approximate? I wonder what the metric size is and
if that is more exact.
I don't know much about the rules of what you get versus what you
ask for but I'm sure if they gave you 400 g it would only be
breaking the law if they charged you for some higher amount. I
can't imagine a customer calling the police because they got 400 g
instead of a pound. If fact I can't ever remember getting a pound
when I asked for it. It was always plus or minus. I would be more
concerned though if someone cheated me by putting their hand on the
scale or sold me product that was dated.
BTW, why do you spell grams with an extra me? That seems strange.
Is that the way it is spelled in the UK?
Jerry
From: Stephen Humphreys <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Sunday, January 25, 2009 12:53:11 PM
Subject: RE: [USMA:42521] Re: Is there any literature on metrication
in the US aimed at immigrants?
It's all in the small print. My German monitor quotes 'approx
28"'. I havene;t measured it but it looks about right.
However if a shop sold you a 'pound' which turned out to be 400
grammes then that'll be breaking the law.
I'm not fully qualified in the legal bits and pieces so please
forgive me for vagueness.
Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2009 09:32:29 -0800
From: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [USMA:42521] Re: Is there any literature on metrication
in the US aimed at immigrants?
To: [email protected]; [email protected]
Stephen,
How does the law prevent this from happening when others have said
they have encountered it? I read emails yesterday that said
monitors in inches were smaller then what was advertised as well as
storage space.
I only know of one pound which is described as 453.6 g or such. I
know there is a 500 g pound but it is usually called by other names
such as pfund and livre as was explained in an earlier email.
Jerry
From: Stephen Humphreys <[email protected]>
To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, January 25, 2009 12:01:20 PM
Subject: [USMA:42521] Re: Is there any literature on metrication in
the US aimed at immigrants?
<<I see what you are saying, but that seems strange. How can
someone be familiar enough with metric units on the job but as soon
as they leave the company for the day they forget metric units and
have to have to have events of the day be explained in imperial units?
Does this happen in any other country too? >>
To a degree, Ireland.
To a (much) lesser degree, Australia and New Zealand
<<From some other comments I have read from some of the emails is
that English units are still used as a means to present incorrect
information about products to consumers. Is this the case in
Britain too? Do people understand the imperial units they
encounter? Why would converting to imperial units be a benefit if
in fact it is used to provide erroneous information? That would not
seem like a benefit to me.>>
The law prevents this from happening (would you be thinking of, for
example, a 400 gramme 'pound'?).
From: Martin Vlietstra <[email protected]>
To: U..S.. Metric Association <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, January 25, 2009 11:08:37 AM
Subject: [USMA:42501] Re: Is there any literature on metrication in
the US aimed at immigrants?
Jerry,
As regards units of measure, Britain runs an Apartheid system –
business and official matters are conducted in metric units, but the
press barons have instructed their editors to convert any metric
units into imperial units for the benefit of the British consumer.
As a result the man-in-the-street is unfamiliar with metric units
unless he comes across them in his work situation.
From: Jeremiah MacGregor [mailto: [email protected] ]
Sent: 24 January 2009 15:22
To: Martin Vlietstra; U.S. Metric Association
Subject: Re: [USMA:42425] Re: Is there any literature on metrication
in the US aimed at immigrants?
Martin,
Why would they convert back? Isn't Britain fully metric now like
Australia and others? I thought they converted in the 1960s, so by
now only the real old should still remember older units..
Jerry
From: Martin Vlietstra <[email protected]>
To: [email protected] ; U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]
>
Sent: Saturday, January 24, 2009 10:20:38 AM
Subject: RE: [USMA:42425] Re: Is there any literature on metrication
in the US aimed at immigrants?
When traveling on the Continent, I have noticed that most British
travelers tend to repeat the units that they have heard or seen –
they tend not to convert back to Imperial units.
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On
Behalf Of Jeremiah MacGregor
Sent: 24 January 2009 14:28
To: U.S. Metric Association
Subject: [USMA:42425] Re: Is there any literature on metrication in
the US aimed at immigrants?
Jason,
Do immigrants speak among themselves using metric units or do they
conform to American practice of using English units even in their
native languages? What about the goods they sell in their native
shops? Are they sold to each other in metric units or English units
(lbs of kg)?
Jerry
From: Jason Darfus <[email protected]>
To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2009 2:05:39 PM
Subject: [USMA:42355] Re: Is there any literature on metrication in
the US aimed at immigrants?
On 18 Jan 2009, at 09:39, Pierre Abbat wrote:
> It appears that the immigrants try to conform to what they think
is the way we
> do it. Is there any literature aimed at people who come here
already knowing
> metric, but haven't lived through the introduction of metric in
the 1970s,
> empowering them to push Americans to metricate?
>
> Pierre
I think you're right in suggesting that immigrants, most of whom are
inherently from metricated countries, feel it's not their place to
complain about the way things are done here regarding measurement.
The thought of producing some kind of a handout to be given to
immigrants in the grocery store has occurred to me. This could be
produced in an attractive way, written in multiple languages, and
would ask the patrons to request of store management the posting of
metric pricing signs in the produce, deli, and meats departments for
example. The stores would also have to be equipped with switchable
scales, as all the grocery stores I visit use scales that are only
capable of displaying "lbs". I've written to the stores I shop at
and my request has been summarily ignored, but they probably would
take notice if they received many similar requests. I've even
offered to buy a new dual unit hanging scale for a local coffee
roaster/store if they'd price their beans by the kilo or 100g in
addition to their lbs. Again there was no response.
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Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
PO Box 305 Belmont 3216,
Geelong, Australia
Phone: 61 3 5241 2008
Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has
helped thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the
modern metric system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they
now save thousands each year when buying, processing, or selling for
their businesses. Pat provides services and resources for many
different trades, crafts, and professions for commercial, industrial
and government metrication leaders in Asia, Europe, and in the USA.
Pat's clients include the Australian Government, Google, NASA, NIST,
and the metric associations of Canada, the UK, and the USA. See http://www.metricationmatters.com
for more metrication information, contact Pat at [email protected]
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