Canada Metric System

greg334

Veteran Expediter
England seems to be fighting it, a lot of the attitude still seems to be in MPH, not KPH.
 

layoutshooter

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
England seems to be fighting it, a lot of the attitude still seems to be in MPH, not KPH.

England is fighting the metric system? They were using it 100% when we were living there. We were there from 1976-81. Did they go back to "true" measurements?
 

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
What "true" measurement? Surely not the Aborted American System? gee whiz.... first the U and now this? :eek:
 

layoutshooter

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
Oh, come on now OVM, everyone knows that the metric system is a communist plot to insure that they take over the world!! :p
 

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
Oh, come on now OVM, everyone knows that the metric system is a communist plot to insure that they take over the world!! :p


The American system cheats ..everything is smaller!! A 32oz quart that should be 40 oz? and the gallon is so small here!!*LOL*

Corporate scheme to rip off consumers..started by liberal thinking types...that took what was shorted and passed it around to those who don't work....:rolleyes:
 

layoutshooter

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
Yeah, most likely a plot early on in our history put in place by the Brits and Canadians to subvert the youth of our nation!! :rolleyes:
 

layoutshooter

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
You do good work!! I too am headed for bed. We have run well over 5000 miles since last Wed. A good nights sleep and hard at it again in the morning.
 

greg334

Veteran Expediter
Layout,
I noticed that the brits always refer to speed as Miles Per Hour, not KPH. I also notice that some will say "two pounds of ... " not "two point three Kilos of ..." - this is not done for my benefit.

OVM it seems that our system is based on the English system of measurement, which came from England. Back in 1824 they went to a standard system - imperial system of measurement while we went with a closelty linked standard. My memory may be slipping but we came up with a better monitary system which is just like the metric system but a number of years before the French came up with thier breakthrough while England remained with a rather odd and confusing monitary system - Canada and Australia both followed us. If I remember right, they finally got smart in the early 70's but before that the pound was divided up in 240 parts - Pence and it was confusing at the same time made the average englander a bit smarter. So I buy something for a 1P 5s 2p 1/4d and hand the nice looking clerk in her 60's outfit 2 pounds - you figure it out what change I get back with the old system.
 

layoutshooter

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
They still speak in miles but all of their signs were in "klicks" Their fuel was sold in liters etc. The young spoke "new speak"
 

FIS53

Veteran Expediter
Well the daughter married a Brit and he still refers to MPH and MPG as opposed to KPH or L/100Km. Britain has also started to utilize the Euro but of course many refer back to the pound. The pound now has only 100 pence as opposed to the old way that Greg has mentioned. I remember all that fun stuff with the money. Was a pain trying to convert it over to Francs, Marks etc when I went back to France. Luckily I had someone to convert my money when I went to England ahead of my arrival.
Rob
 

LDB

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
Sometimes I watch Antiques Roadshow on BBCA. They'll talk about Bob, Quid etc. for what they paid for something. Some of the terms seem official like our dollar and some seem slang like our buck although I'm not certain what any of them are.
 

jaminjim

Veteran Expediter
My original complaint with going 'metric' was the fact that I would need to replace at least $10 thousand dollars worth of tools for no real reason.
 

layoutshooter

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
The pound was on the decimal system when we were there. I don't remember when they switched that over.
 

FIS53

Veteran Expediter
I can't remember either about the decimal changeover. I'll ask. Re the bob and quid part both are slang like buck as quid was used for pounds. There were several other slang words as well for different denominations. The French used some colourful words for other countries Francs. Where I lived they used both German and French and when counting out change they would switch languages as they counted. Unless you could count in both languages it could get confusing. Similar problem near the Belgian border as many spoke Flemish as well as French. Now in northern Belgium they combined French and Dutch. Less German and French mixing in eastern Belgium though.
Rob
 
Top