O.K., I've kept quiet long enough....
I have nothing against the metric system as such. Our friends on the Continent such as C-H and Texas Ranger grew up with millimeters, kilograms, kilometers, etc. and I am sure therefore have no trouble visualizing them. I use the metric system in some scientific work, where appropriate. Radio wavelengths have
always been measured in meters, for example, but then that's not something tangible that one needs to conceptualize.
But most of us in Britain (like America) grew up using English units. As Sparky said above, I just can't
think in metric. I'm forced to convert to work with the metric quantities that have been imposed upon us, but I only do that by mentally converting into English units before I can picture them in my mind. I can make sense of speed limit signs when driving in France, for example, but only with a mental "look-up" table. I see a "50" sign, but it doesn't register in my mind that the speed limit is 50km/h. I see the 50 and my brain says "30 mph."
The metric proponents in the U.K. frequently put forward the case that "Britain is the last remaining major country in the world to cling to Imperial measurements." Well, excuse me! Have these guys not heard of the United States??!!
As John mentioned, what has annoyed people in the U.K. is not so much the merits of which system is better, but rather the Draconian way in which the bureaucrats have forced it upon us, stage by stage.
Packets in grocery stores had to be dual marked, now they say that metric markings must take primary place over English (only as a temporary "derogation" mind you, meaning that in a few more years they'll make it illegal to show English units at all).
All architectural plans submitted for official approval must be in metric now, or the council will just reject them. Pop quiz: Is a 6096 x 5486mm room big or small? Tricky isn't it? Now if I'd said 20 x 18 feet, you'd all picture it instantly.
Gas pumps changed over to liters a few years ago by law, forcing many small owners who just could not afford the cost of replacements out of business. Shop-keepers have been faced with changing all their scales for metric -- Those who have refused have been dragged through the courts and now actually have a criminal record for the "crime" of selling a pound of fruit. The fact that the majority of people ask for their wares in English units doesn't seem to bother the police-state Big-Brother officials who are hellbent on getting their way.
The list goes on and on.
By the way, France has been officially metric for over 200 years, and I'm sure that most Frenchmen can visualize metric quantities, but they still use pre-metric measures. Go to any French market and you'll find people buying goods by the
livre (albeit a slightly adjusted pound of 500g to make conversion easier). They still measure plumbing fittings in
pousses (inches) as well! The only difference is that their government doesn't try to turn people into criminals for using the units they grew up with.
O.K., rant over. I'll leave you with this reference:
http://www.footrule.org/Navigation.htm [This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 12-12-2002).]