Brexit, the economy and house prices part 5

vivatifosi

ilovehouses wrote: »

I have visions of people like these, drunk on Sanatogen, roaming the streets looking for distances expressed in metric format and reporting people found in possession of 'offensive wives'.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/734066/Brexit-voters-change-metric-signs-imperial-European-Union

Oh good Lord no! Please no return to imperial measurements. I am quite happy with buying stuff in kilos and litres and temps being in centigrade. Much more logical. If we go back to pints and pounds, all that will happen is we'll get new smaller packages for the same price.

Arklight

ilovehouses wrote: »

I have visions of people like these, drunk on Sanatogen, roaming the streets looking for distances expressed in metric format and reporting people found in possession of 'offensive wives'.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/734066/Brexit-voters-change-metric-signs-imperial-European-Union

Campaigners believe imperial measurements are part of our culture and identity and are relieved to be free from the metric bureaucratic bullying.

Sums Brexit up doesn't it? A completely meaningless throwback of identity no one under 40 cares about, and no one else in the world cares about.


Presumably they'll be going back to using slide rules and trying to pay in cash in shops with shillings and pence next.

Herzlos

vivatifosi wrote: »

Oh good Lord no! Please no return to imperial measurements. I am quite happy with buying stuff in kilos and litres and temps being in centigrade. Much more logical. If we go back to pints and pounds, all that will happen is we'll get new smaller packages for the same price.

I agree that Imperial measurements are the devil and a nightmare when it comes to precision. We don't need to deal with 0.006" or 1/64".

That said, we'll still need to mark anything we sell to the EU or the rest of the civilized world using metric, so we'll probably keep most things metric, even if we change bottles from 500ml to 584ml or whatever.

Threatening to go back to feet, inches, yards is the sort of things that might appeal to some of the flag wavers, but it's never going to materialize in the real world. And I say that as someone who still uses feet and inches day to day.

Thrugelmir

gfplux wrote: »

However I read that the EU will turn phase one talks into a legal document this month.

Which is what you'd expect. A legal document needs to be ratified however. That's some way off at the moment.

Arklight

Herzlos wrote: »

I agree that Imperial measurements are the devil and a nightmare when it comes to precision. We don't need to deal with 0.006" or 1/64".

That said, we'll still need to mark anything we sell to the EU or the rest of the civilized world using metric, so we'll probably keep most things metric, even if we change bottles from 500ml to 584ml or whatever.

Threatening to go back to feet, inches, yards is the sort of things that might appeal to some of the flag wavers, but it's never going to materialize in the real world. And I say that as someone who still uses feet and inches day to day.

It's part of our culture and our British identity apparently. I think Leave voters really need to look at reappraising their definition of what the word, "Our" means.

Herzlos

Arklight wrote: »

It's part of our culture and our British identity apparently. I think Leave voters really need to look at reappraising their definition of what the word, "Our" means.

Only if you were born before 1980ish. My generation (low 30's) were brought up in metric everything. I've never had to do anything with feet, yards, furlongs, oz, stone, Fahrenheit. etc. I know feet/inches because they were pretty common for DIY/Building until very recently, and lbs because of baking. I have no concept of the rest of them beyond some vague ability to convert them back to metric.

Those younger than me are presumably even more baffled.

I'd be curious as to what age the identity changes, since we started adopting the metric system in 1965. You'd need to be in your 60's to remember the decision being announced.

System

Herzlos wrote: »

Only if you were born before 1980ish. My generation (low 30's) were brought up in metric everything. I've never had to do anything with feet, yards, furlongs, oz, stone, Fahrenheit. etc. I know feet/inches because they were pretty common for DIY/Building until very recently, and lbs because of baking. I have no concept of the rest of them beyond some vague ability to convert them back to metric.

According to google; since 1974 all state schools have been required to teach the metric system as the primary system of measurement. i.e. for anyone under the age of 48/49 their whole education used metric as the primary system of measurement.

Anyone late fifties or younger will have had at least some formal education in the metric system.

Tallies with my recollection - imperial measures were something you needed to know (stuff was sold in pounds and we still travel in miles etc) but the real work was in metric.

It's an old people's game hankering after pounds and ounces. The chap in charge of the movement is 82.

fewgroats

So imperial taking over from metric in 2019 seems rather unlikely then?

Matt_L

So instead of losing 500,000 jobs, recession, emergency budget and all those other predictions made by team remain i see this in the news..

UK manufacturing output at its highest for 10 years

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42633502

Tromking

The usual suspects getting worked up at the thought of the return of imperial measures.
In the real world, the UK's trade deficit for the last quarter narrows off the back of increased exports to non EU countries. Good news.