Non-Americans: When you hear a measurement like "20 feet 8 inches" or "165 lb" or "45 mph" or "85 degrees Fahrenheit", do you have to pause for very long to mentally translate it to metric measurements, or are you bilingual?
by 
Amorphous Blob is thrilled to have hair
ANSWERS: 3
-
I use following conversion factors: 1) For feet and inches: 1 foot = 30 cm 1 inch = 2,4 cm 20 feet 8 inches ~ 600 + 8*(2.5) = 620 cm 2) For pounds - 165 lb ~ 82 kg (1/2) (easy) (I don't remember the exact factor) 3) For mph: - 45 mph ~ 67 km/h (1.5) (easy) - 45 mph ~ 72 km/h (2*8/10) (a little more complicated) And if it must be more accurate, I know in my head that 1 miles ~ 1.609 km 4) For °F: - 85 °F ~ some where between 32°F (0°C) and 212°F (100°C) so maybe about 20°C ??? But if it must be more accurate, I could make the formula back from those values: F= C*(180/100) +32 Or C=(F-32)*(100/180) 5) alternatively, I go lazily to a conversion website if I am online... Happily, I don't have to make this kind of calculations very often...except on AB! For this reason, I usually use this last possibility.
-
The only one I have difficulty with is when weight is expressed in pounds. I have to divide by 14 to convert it into stones, or 2.2 to convert it into kilograms. We used feet and inches, and the Fahrenheit scale when I was at school.
-
I’m British, but unlike most Brits I can’t use the imperial system. Most Brits oppose the metric system because they get it confused with the EU. The rest of my family are exclusively imperial, yet I only understand metric (except for a yard because I know it’s nearly a metre). If you said: “20 feet, 8 inches” I would have no idea; I wouldn’t even pause to work it out, I just wouldn’t know. The same goes for 165 lb. However, 45 mph I would understand because speed limits in Britain are in mph, but I prefer to think in km/h (speedometers in british cars are predominately mph, but must also show km/h). I know 50 mph is about 80 km/h, and 70 km/h is a little over 40 mph, so I would say it’s about 73 km/h. Fahrenheit... absolutely no idea. Although here’s something to help you with °C: 30° is hot 20° is nice 10° is cold 0° is ice When people ask how much I weigh I say: “82 kg”. When they ask what that is in imperial I’ll say: “6 tods, a clove and 6 pounds”. They’ll than ask what that is in stone so I tell them: “you’re the one who uses imperial measurements, you work it out”.
iwnit RELATED QUESTIONS
Copyright 2023, Wired Ivy, LLC