A Call For Humor!

[fatoldgit]

Although New Zealand completed metrication in 1976,

interesting... I had assumed [wrongly] that when we went decimal currency [10 July 1967] that we went metric with everything. I was 8 at the time we went decimal.

I didn't realize we went metric so late. I had only just started driving then [1976] so probably didn't notice the change from miles to km's

Peter

*** after a few minutes thinking, I came back to say that I started driving in my Mum's 1974 Ford Escort but cant remember if the speedo was in mph or kph although google states "New Zealand officially adopted the metric system in 1974, which meant that from that point on, speedometers in cars were required to show kilometers per hour (km/h). Some earlier vehicles, particularly those made in the 1970s, might have had speedometers that displayed both miles per hour (mph) and km/h during the transition period."

So maybe it was in kph or both as noted.

 

[Keith_W]

 

[respice finem]

I can recall a joke in a similar "climate": The UK had announced to gradually switch to right-hand traffic.
In the first month, only for trucks...

 

[fatoldgit]

I can recall a joke in a similar "climate": The UK had announced to gradually switch to right-hand traffic.
In the first month, only for trucks...

Sweden famously switched from left-hand to right-hand driving overnight on September 3, 1967, an event known as "Dagen H". At 5:00 a.m. that day, a national shutdown and careful transition allowed drivers to switch sides, an ambitious and successful project that included changing all road signs, traffic lights, and even retrofitting bus doors

Now that would be freaky!!!!

Peter

 

[respice finem]

But less than letting trucks only drive the other way

 

[Multicore]

Yeah, Imperial weights make no sense to me either.
1 pound = 16 ounces
1 stone = 14 pounds

(I do remember my parents quoting their weight in stone when I was young - post metrication)

For converting to metric.
1 kg is about 2.2 pounds (2.205)
This is the only one I remember and use
Or 1 pound is 454 grams
1 ounce is 28.35 grams.


Also confusing is that a UK gallon is 4.546 litres, but a US gallon is 3.785 litres.

So an equivalent car will have much higher calculated MPG in the UK.
30 mpg (UK) = 25 mpg (US)

Meh. American pounds and ounces are no problem and divisions of 16 and 12 are handy for everyday mental arithmetic.

But British stones, pints and gallons are completely stupid.

Old money, still in use when I was young, with its pounds and guineas and halves a crowns required any shopkeeper to complete substantial arithmetic drill. Decimal seems generally better for money.

 

[Soniclife]

Bank of Dave | Rotten Tomatoes

Discover reviews, ratings, and trailers for Bank of Dave on Rotten Tomatoes. Stay updated with critic and audience scores today!

www.rottentomatoes.com

This is a great film, well worth watching.

Spoiler

And a real bank

The second film isn't as good.

 

[Sir Sanders Zingmore]

It is important not to mistake the subject of a joke with its target.

That’s a very good point

 

[mhardy6647]

View attachment 476298

An unhappy banana….

Well, consider the fate it is envisioning...

 

[mhardy6647]

"A pint's a pound, the world around"

It is - almost! - a nice hexadecimal system.
I shan't speak in favor of the stone, though.

 

[Timcognito]

 

[Timcognito]

 

[mhardy6647]

View attachment 476382

... not to mention the whole school vs. shoal imbroglio those poor fish have to deal with!

 

[thegeton]

Maybe I'll just throw in a swale, too, while we're thinking about groundwater and runoff and suchlike...

View attachment 475909

FairFacts — Wet Swales | Public Works and Environmental Services

Fairfax County, Virginia - Wet swales remove sediment and nutrients. They slow and temporarily store runoff, allowing sediment to settle on the bottom of the channel.

www.fairfaxcounty.gov

Puts me in mind of another boggy waterway: A Slough - a slow-moving, often shallow body of water, or type of waterway characterized by being a slow-moving or stagnant channel, frequently found in marshy areas. They're typically very shallow and can be a remnant of a river or a tidal channel.

Here in Washington State, the former is more often true: a remnant of a river. You see many of them driving the various East/West highways like 90 and 82.

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

 

[JohnnyNG]

View attachment 475934

Factual.

 

[lucian]

 

[Peterinvan]

Metric...

Here in Canada we are a bi-lingual country.

The hardware store still sells 2x4s. Common pipe is called 1/2". The actual product is the closest metric equivalent. New pipe adapters don't quit fit old 1/2" pipe.
We measure our body weight, and produce in pounds. Our height... mostly feet/inches.
But mostly we buy stuff in metric.

We have gotten used to doing the mental arithmetic. We can even learn some French from reading product labels

 

[Robin L]

 

[Salt]

We in DE have 'Zoll' (inch) for all that is connected to water ... don't know the reason (historically), but factor 2,?.?54 is always on mind...