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Imperial/Metric on BBC News
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
I don't know where to put this, so I've posted in "Anything goes".
I've just been trying to read this article on BBC News about the bird flu crisis in Suffolk. However, the BBC is referring to the protection zones in km. I have absolutely no idea how big these protection zones are because for some unbeknown reason, they feel obliged to refer to distance in km. I'm not French. I want to know the distance in miles.
For example:
I understand that we don't use the imperial system any more, but I was under the impression that for distance and speed we still use miles. Road signs still use miles and yards. Is the BBC slowly trying to introduce us to the European way of measuring things?
I've just been trying to read this article on BBC News about the bird flu crisis in Suffolk. However, the BBC is referring to the protection zones in km. I have absolutely no idea how big these protection zones are because for some unbeknown reason, they feel obliged to refer to distance in km. I'm not French. I want to know the distance in miles.
For example:
:crazyeyesA three-kilometre protection zone and a 10km surveillance zone have now been set up around Holton, which is approximately 27km south-west of Lowestoft.
I understand that we don't use the imperial system any more, but I was under the impression that for distance and speed we still use miles. Road signs still use miles and yards. Is the BBC slowly trying to introduce us to the European way of measuring things?
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1.6km - 1 mile
I could go convert it, but I don't want to. I want to read that such zones are X miles in circumference, not X km. I don't see signs telling me the speed limit is 48km/h or the next service station is 15km away.
Well they should convert it into miles for their reporting.
The same reason they shouldn't tell us a Big Mac is three thousand rupees. Because we don't use those units.
Dynamics measures speed in m/s, but any car is mph. Pressure is given in bar, kPa or mmHg. Cans and bottles are in ml and l, but you still get a pint of milk. It's a kg of sugar but a quarter pound of beef.
So why shouldn't distance be given in km? Especially as 1 kilometer = 0.621371192 miles when you want to be exact. It's not quite 5/8ths, it's nastier than that. So if you have a 1km exclusion zone and a 3km restricted area, why not keep it in nice shiney numbers instead of 0.621371192 or 1.86411358?
What is the problem? Who cares?
Obviously will take a bit of getting used to if youre used to imperial stuff, but metric is the way things are going to be measured, and already are for the most part, and they certainly will for your kids, so may as well try and get the hang now.
Whoops, my bad. I'm blaming the BBC when actually it's the government's fault for bowing down to Europe and doing what they do i.e. setting up exclusion zones in kilometres, not miles. It would have been nice of the BBC to put in brackets how many miles each number equated to, though.
That's why we should care. The conversion of the British Imperial System to metric. Of course, most of it has been done now but I'm waiting for the time to come when our speedometers and roadsigns change too.
The problem with imperial, is we are the only buggers that use it, so its a pain for becoming more unified with europe and other countries too.
My sides are splitting. The reason metric makes more sense is because we've been using it for so long now. And I'm not asking for it to be brought back either. But if they bring in metric for distance and speed, then we're going to have to get used to that, too.
I might be wrong but I also thought Britain had adopted the Metric System- at least in some areas such as weight.
It's not nuclear physics to work out at least an approximate equivalent between miles and km anyway. It'll be good for the brain at any rate.
*Awaits for someone to say Imperial has been part of British history and heritage for a thousand years and how switching to metric would destroy Britain's identity and blah blah...*
That one
Ever tried cubing something up when your working in feet and inches?
There are some differences but lots of similarities too.
I was taught Imperial and Metric at school and taught rough conversions between the two. I don't know if that's still the case. (Finished Maths forever three years ago, didn't carry it on after GCSE
I think people should know both. There are a few things where Imperial is still used and will continue to be used by the vast majority of people for a very long time.
Shops should also be allowed to show both imperial and metric.
I didn't know a single thing about Imperial before I moved here but I now use some of them alongside metric. For approximate values (for instance when talking about the width of a bed) I find it easier to think 5 ft than 1.5 m. For precise measurements however metric is the one.
Some things I can't stand though: stones, pounds and ounces (so pointless and user-unfriendly a system it must have been created for a laugh) or Farenheit degrees.
Although, a lot of people only use Fahrenheit in summer and Celsius the rest of the time.
Yeah, me too, its taken far too long. We use metric for everything except beer and distance. Its about time we used metric for everything.
The reason metric makes more sense is because it is base 10, the same as our number system.
It has been. I was at school in the 70's and 80's and metric was what we got taught.