this post was submitted on 26 Jul 2023
1637 points (97.4% liked)

Memes

45727 readers
631 users here now

Rules:

  1. Be civil and nice.
  2. Try not to excessively repost, as a rule of thumb, wait at least 2 months to do it if you have to.

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] notacat@mander.xyz 64 points 1 year ago (9 children)

I do find cooking easier in grams. Just put the bowl on the scale and add ingredients until it hits the number. No measuring cups to wash. But it would life changing if woodworking switched to metric. Doing any sort of exact math is annoying as hell. What is 12’7” divided by 4? How many 1/8” is 0.55 inches?? It is my own personal hell.

[–] Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social 27 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's also a lot easier to multiply and divide recipes if you switch it over to metric. This is particularly useful if you don't have enough of one ingredient and need to reduce the others by that ratio.

Then there's the ability to measure the ingredient directly out of the container, using any scoop you can find, rather than needing multiple sets of measuring spoons.

[–] Gordon@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Ah yes, I'll have 0.8 metric eggs please.

[–] Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Say you have a recipe that takes three eggs but you only have two. Do you wanna do the math on what 2/3 of one cup is actually?

[–] Gordon@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Ummm... It's 2/3 cup, and that is a standard measurement. But maybe that wasn't the best example. Let's say 2/3 of 1/4 cup. Well that's 2/12 or 1/6 cup which is far from common. However a cup is 48 tsp, so 1/6 cup is 8 tsp.

I mean it's dumb as hell but it does work.

The Metric system is easier though.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] RoquetteQueen 11 points 1 year ago

Sometimes I buy liquid eggs in a carton if I need a lot of eggs for one recipe and don't feel like cracking a dozen eggs. One large egg is about 50g, so 0.8 metric eggs is about 40g.

[–] MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca 9 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Got to get the metric chickens for those.

load more comments (4 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (8 replies)
[–] jg1i@lemmy.world 48 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

I was born in the US and have switched by myself. My brother thought I was weird until one day we went to the hardware store.

I needed to buy a 15/64 in drill bit, but they didn't have it. So then we thought, fine, maybe we can use the next closest size...

...

Except WTF is the next size up or down from 15/64??!!! Neither of us could figure it out. Internet wasn't great. Sales people didn't know. We left because we weren't sure what to buy.

In metric, it's trivial. 5mm drill bit, 4mm is smaller, 6mm is bigger.

After this, he stopped thinking I was a weirdo for using metric measurements. But he still uses imperial because murica.

Also, interesting, I learned that he thinks imperial units were invented by the US. I told him they were British units and I stopped caring about British units in 1776, but he didn't seem to believe me.

[–] cantsurf@lemm.ee 15 points 1 year ago

16/64 is 1/4. Your next size up is a quarter inch. Is it intuitive? Maybe not. Is it really that hard? Only if your educational institutions have also failed you.

[–] grandkaiser@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Except WTF is the next size up or down from 15/64??!!!

There's lots of great reasons to switch to metric. Inability to do basic fractions isn't one of them...

For the record, it would be 16/64, or, 1/4

load more comments (4 replies)
load more comments (3 replies)
[–] Esjee@lemmy.world 35 points 1 year ago (2 children)

We went from posting Twitter screenshots as memes to posting reddit screenshots as memes

That's called progress, imo

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Excuse me, I think you mean X.com screenshots.

[–] BonesOfTheMoon@lemmy.world 33 points 1 year ago (13 children)

It's so nice the US and Liberia are the only two countries to share both Ebola AND the imperial system. They're buddy buddy.

load more comments (13 replies)
[–] Pinklink@lemm.ee 30 points 1 year ago (4 children)

And Celsius? And 24 hour time?

[–] Lemminary@lemmy.ml 25 points 1 year ago (7 children)

We use 24 h format here where I live but we speak in 12 h format because it's less awkward. Not all that shines is gold, I guess

load more comments (7 replies)
[–] Andrew15_5@mander.xyz 11 points 1 year ago
load more comments (2 replies)
[–] Lizardking27@lemmy.world 29 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Mfs don't realize we already fuckin use metric for all kinds of shit.

[–] Holzkohlen@feddit.de 10 points 1 year ago (5 children)

I bet the dang Nasa doesn't measure their rockets by the barley corn.

Fun probably-already-known fact: NASA accidentally destroyed a $200 million Mars orbiter from of a missed imperial->metric conversion, because NASA does generally work in metric, and some Lockheed-Martin software provided numbers in imperial (while claiming to be metric)

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] jerrimu@lemmy.world 26 points 1 year ago (6 children)

When I was 6 in 1980, they told us we would be switching in a year or two.

[–] TheKingBee@lemmy.world 37 points 1 year ago

I'd heard of that before so after a quick google America passed the Metric Conversion Act in 1975 then in 1982 the Metric Board was abolished by President Ronald Reagan...

So like the harbinger of doom for American progress he was Regan killed it...

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] Lowered_lifted@lemmy.world 25 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It’s so nice to measure fluid in milliliters and grams, it all works so well.

[–] JusticeForPorygon@dormi.zone 23 points 1 year ago (10 children)

Please, baking is such a pain in the ass because measurements are never consistent

[–] mondoman712@lemmy.ml 17 points 1 year ago (4 children)

And everything is measured by volume. Just tell me the amount of salt I need in grams and I don't have to worry about if it's kosher or not.

load more comments (4 replies)
load more comments (9 replies)
[–] foggy@lemmy.world 22 points 1 year ago (1 children)

tespoons? That's what tsp means?

Yeah what'd you think it meant, Eugene?

...ten square pounds?

Calzone explodes

Jazz music intensifies

[–] tavu@sopuli.xyz 16 points 1 year ago (3 children)

WTF is a square pound!? You've ruined my day.

[–] Mischala@lemmy.nz 10 points 1 year ago

One pound times one pound, duh.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] SeaJ@lemm.ee 14 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I personally fucking hate ounces. Recipes could mean volume or weight.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] sgharms@lemmy.sdf.org 14 points 1 year ago

The A* paper standard and the metric system. A Pythagorean can dream.

[–] ForestOrca@kbin.social 13 points 1 year ago (3 children)
load more comments (3 replies)
[–] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I dunno about tables, but I've been known to munch carpet

[–] BitterSweet@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 1 year ago

You’re missing out man, tables taste like those ceiling fan blades but thicker!

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Krompus@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

Boost screenshot, a fine vintage.

[–] Hippesthippo@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Super selfish reason but as an architect in the US, I deal with nice round imperial numbers all day. Door frames, typically 2”. Standard commercial door, 3’x7’. All the codes are based around imperial too. ADA door width, 3’. Masonry Dimension, every 8 inches. At this point, it would be hard to remember that ADA turning radius is 1525 mm (not the easy 5’…. And yes, I know that’s changing to 67” soon). There are literally hundreds of dimensions I would have to relearn. I suppose it’s probably for the best to switch over and rip that bandaid off, but damn, it would be a headache and take me much longer to review drawings in metric (in the short term).

[–] eldain@feddit.nl 25 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I assume you would also introduce a new standard with rounded numbers, metric doors are also 200x80 cm for example, and sizes of everything gets rounded in the rest of the world, too. Timber sizes differ a little between north america and the rest of the world, it is a different framework, you'd get used to it.

load more comments (4 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] lorez@lemm.ee 8 points 1 year ago (3 children)
load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›