283
xkcd: Metric Tip (imgs.xkcd.com)
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[-] Diddlydee@feddit.uk 22 points 3 months ago

My mate, Big Dave, was 6ft 10in. He was just a giant man, not just gangly like some very tall folk. He used to tell people who regularly asked that he was 4ft 34in.

[-] mogoh@lemmy.ml 4 points 3 months ago

Wow, that’s 3/32 ch, and ~ 20 cm

[-] then_three_more@lemmy.world 20 points 3 months ago

I'm British, I'm 5 foot 10, 76kg. I buy my petrol in litres but measure the fuel efficiency in mpg. If I want to measure a short distance (other than my height) it'll be in mm, cm and meters, up to about half a mile. I think I buy my beer in pints but unless it's at a pub it's probably actually 500ml. Milk again I think is in but it's almost always 500mm, 1 litre etc.

When I cook everything is metric, at least, unless I have a stupid American recipe then I'll have to find an old teacup.

At least temperature is always Celsius, unless my mum is telling me about the Daily Express headline weather warning, then I have to remind myself that she's not telling me my blood will literally start boiling next week.

[-] Empricorn@feddit.nl 8 points 3 months ago

Doesn't Canada always mix imperial and metric in nonsensical ways?

[-] Omgpwnies@lemmy.world 15 points 3 months ago

Mixing metric and imperial is base-tier Canadian.

Sure, we will measure our height in feet/inches, except on our driver's license, and weight in lbs, except at the doctors office. We'll measure our car's speed in km/h numerically, but if you hear a Canadian say "miles per hour", it also means km/h, unless we're talking about driving in the US, then it is actually mph...maybe.

Now, ask a Canadian how far away something is.

[-] NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de 10 points 3 months ago

but if you hear a Canadian say “miles per hour”, it also means km/h

Tell me you're joking.

[-] Omgpwnies@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago

Nope!

Some explanation though, Canada adopted the metric system and converted to metric in the 70's-80's. I remember seeing street signs in imperial and signs advertising the conversion ("50mph is 80kph" and stuff), so a large portion of our population spent a good chunk of their lives on imperial, or grew up with those people as parents. So, what happened is, the signs changed, and our speedometers changed, but people's brains still went "this is miles per hour", and well, it kinda stuck.

Now ask me how far it is from Toronto to Ottawa....

[-] NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 3 months ago

Well, if you insist.. How far is it from Toronto to Ottawa? (bracing myself...)

[-] Omgpwnies@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago
[-] NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 3 months ago

(⁠╯⁠°⁠□⁠°⁠)⁠╯⁠︵⁠ ⁠┻⁠━⁠┻

[-] vinceman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Is the last part where I answer "about 10 hours"?

[-] brsrklf@jlai.lu 2 points 3 months ago

That tracks, it's like a reverse Kessel Run.

[-] tomkatt@lemmy.world 6 points 3 months ago

I’m finding it weird how quickly my brain just accepted the switch in the comic.

[-] Venator@lemmy.nz 3 points 3 months ago

I'm 5 feet 30 cm and 2.386061e-5 furlongs tall

[-] helpImTrappedOnline@lemmy.world -1 points 3 months ago
this post was submitted on 06 Nov 2025
283 points (99.3% liked)

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