Why did'nt the USA go metric ?..... - GoFuckYourself.com

wizhard · 05-23-2007, 05:24 PM

.......when most of Europe did ?

12clicks · 05-23-2007, 05:24 PM

we lead, we do not follow.

needlive · 05-23-2007, 05:25 PM

Because the USA is outside Europe. wink

Spunky · 05-23-2007, 05:26 PM

Probably the expense and the American people didn't want it.I'm still learning the shit and it's been in Canada for a long time

wizhard · 05-23-2007, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 12clicks

we lead, we do not follow.

Oxymoron.

cocky · 05-23-2007, 05:27 PM

way to lazy

Paraskass · 05-23-2007, 05:28 PM

Metric rocks. Except for highway travel.

60 miles an hour is easier to work out than 100 km an hour.

stickyfingerz · 05-23-2007, 05:28 PM

Cause my dick is 12"s not 30.5 CM.

Pornwolf · 05-23-2007, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 12clicks;

we lead, we do not follow.

Yup, what he said.

wizhard · 05-23-2007, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by needlive

Because the USA is outside Europe. wink

Not since youre twin towers bit the dust bub.

wizhard · 05-23-2007, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pornwolf

Yup, what he said.

Quote:

Not since youre twin towers bit the dust bub.

............

pornmasta · 05-23-2007, 05:34 PM

because they fear to compare sizes

wizhard · 05-23-2007, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by needlive

Because the USA is outside Europe. wink

Yes, but to adopt a measurment system means more to you than anypeep else seems somewhat .....................what is the word now ?.....

12clicks · 05-23-2007, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wizhard

Yes, but to adopt a measurment system means more to you than anypeep else seems somewhat .....................what is the word now ?.....

lets hope english is this clown's second language.

stev0 · 05-23-2007, 05:48 PM

They'll convert sooner or later... a lot of the population is stuck on imperial and the government hasn't pushed it on them like other countries have.

wizhard · 05-23-2007, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 12clicks

lets hope english is this clown's second language.

Let's hope you just go away.

stev0 · 05-23-2007, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 12clicks

we lead, we do not follow.

I hope I missed some sarcasm and you don't actually believe the US invented the imperial unit.

BucksMania · 05-23-2007, 05:52 PM

too late for a switch like that

Deej · 05-23-2007, 05:54 PM

cause were bastards

BigCashCrew · 05-23-2007, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wizhard

Yes, but to adopt a measurment system means more to you than anypeep else seems somewhat .....................what is the word now ?.....

We are all more stupid having read that.

12clicks · 05-23-2007, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stev0

I hope I missed some sarcasm and you don't actually believe the US invented the imperial unit.

no, I think what you missed is the meaning of a simple sentence. We decided what we will use. Some countries are happy to have europe lead them around by the nose but we never saw a value in that.

wizhard · 05-23-2007, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigCashCrew

We are all more stupid having read that.

Well yes, apologies for the bad gram if you can't use you're common. It should read as follows for nearly illiterate, monkeys an' all ;

......Yes, but to adopt a measurment system that means more to you than anypeep else seems somewhat .....................what is the word now ?.....

I wonder if my clarification will make much of a difference to the replies I wonder ?

wizhard · 05-23-2007, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 12clicks

no, I think what you missed is the meaning of a simple sentence. We decided what we will use. Some countries are happy to have europe lead them around by the nose but we never saw a value in that.

We gave you language..........don't forget that will you.

stev0 · 05-23-2007, 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BucksMania

too late for a switch like that

Why would it be too late? Liberia, Myanmar, and the United States are the only countries not using metric... I think they'll change eventually. It's a better system, based on physics not prototypes and much easier to work with.

Most of the construction people here still use imperial, it's how they've learned and it works for that application. Tough to force people onto a new system of any type.

CWeb · 05-23-2007, 06:28 PM

US is just trying to keep up with Liberia and Burma - about the only two countries to don't use metric. Keep at it

wizhard · 05-23-2007, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CWeb

US is just trying to keep up with Liberia and Burma - about the only two countries to don't use metric. Keep at it

But why would the mighty United States of America want to keep in step with these small countries on such an important issue I wonder ?

The soup thickens........

CWeb · 05-23-2007, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wizhard

But why would the mighty United States of America want to keep in step with these small countries on such an important issue I wonder ?

The soup thickens........

Sure does...

The real reason probably varies from one extreme to another... from cost, educating in a new system to an inability to comprehend

It was the same, and still to a degree, in other areas like telecoms, - the US was amazingly backward, but that has changed a lot, but still not on par with a couple of other continents.

RegUser · 05-23-2007, 06:49 PM

As far as I know, the Brits and US were pissed off because the French manged to push the idea of metric as standard international. The brits on th eother hand snubbed French by clinching GMT to set in Greenwich and not in Paris. As a result the UK and US decided to stay put

notabook · 05-23-2007, 06:50 PM

We loves our guns, LOVES OUR GUNS! Oh and Metric sucks.

wizhard · 05-23-2007, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CWeb

Sure does...

The real reason probably varies from one extreme to another... from cost, educating in a new system to an inability to comprehend

It was the same, and still to a degree, in other areas like telecoms, - the US was amazingly backward, but that has changed a lot, but still not on par with a couple of other continents.

LOL, For a "real reason" you give us big brush strokes and still don't say very much pilgrim.

CWeb · 05-23-2007, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wizhard

LOL, For a "real reason" you give us big brush strokes and still don't say very much pilgrim.

OK.. The real reasons are probably cost and a touch of lethary - but that will be the reason for decades until there is an acceptance that that metric is the global standard for commerce in the same way the English language is.

Barefootsies · 05-23-2007, 07:03 PM

Quote:

1866
The use of the metric system made legal (but not mandatory) in the United States by the (Kasson) Metric Act of 1866 (Public Law 39-183). This law also made it unlawful to refuse to trade or deal in metric quantities.

SPACE GLIDER · 05-23-2007, 07:04 PM

We'll NEVER adopt the metric system. It just won't happen.

Barefootsies · 05-23-2007, 07:05 PM

Quote:

1585
In his book "The Tenth" Simon Stevin suggests that a decimal system should be used for weights and measures, coinage, and divisions of the degree of arc.
1670
Authorities give credit for originating the metric system to Gabriel Mouton, a French vicar, on about this date.
1790
Thomas Jefferson proposed a decimal-based measurement system for the United States.
France's Louis XVI authorized scientific investigations aimed at a reform of French weights and measures. These investigations led to the development of the first "metric" system.
1792
The U.S. Mint was formed to produce the world's first decimal currency (the U.S. dollar consisting of 100 cents).
1795
France officially adopted the metric system.
1812
Napoleon temporarily suspended the compulsory provisions of the 1795 metric system adoption.
1840
The metric system reinstated as the compulsory system in France.

schneemann · 05-23-2007, 07:06 PM

Money, that's why. We, collectively though not consciously, decided NOT to buy shit measured into metric units. Companies that wanted to "lead the way" to metrics quickly learned the hard way that we don't want that shit.

SPACE GLIDER · 05-23-2007, 07:06 PM

I can still remember those TV comercials that tried to make the metric system look cool. With that stupid song "Take 10 America to learn the metric way. A simple system based on 10 that you can start today. It's simple, more accurate and more universal too. It's good for our economy our country and for you!"

the notion was laughed or ignored out of existence

Barefootsies · 05-23-2007, 07:07 PM

Quote:

The Metric System in the United States

Article I, Section 8 of the U. S. Constitution gives Congress the power to "fix the standard of weights and measures" for the nation. The First Congress, meeting in 1789, took up the question of weights and measures, and had the metric system been available at that time it might have been adopted. What actually happened is that Thomas Jefferson, who was then serving as the first Secretary of State, submitted a report proposing a decimal-based system with a mixture of familiar and unfamiliar names for the units.

Jefferson's system actually resembles the metric system in many ways. Its biggest shortcoming is that Jefferson didn't hit on the idea of using prefixes to create names for multiples of units. Consequently, his system was burdened with a long list of names. For example, he divided his basic distance unit, the foot (it was slightly shorter than the traditional foot) into 10 inches. Each inch was divided into 10 lines, and each line into 10 points. For larger distances, 10 feet equalled a decade, 100 feet was a rood, 1000 feet a furlong, and there were 10 000 feet in a mile (making the Jeffersonian mile about twice as long as the traditional mile). His basic volume unit was the cubic foot, which he proposed to call a bushel (it was about 3/4 the size of a traditional bushel). The basic weight unit was the ounce, defined so that a bushel of water weighed 1000 ounces. (This is very similar to the metric system, in which a liter of water weighs 1000 grams).

Congress gave this plan serious consideration, but because it lacked independent support from other scientists it was easy to criticize. Ultimately, Congress took no action. This left Americans with a version of the traditional English weights and measures, including:

* distance measurements identical to those of the 1592 Act of Parliament,
* the traditional avoirdupois system of weight measurements,
* a system of measurement for dry volumes based on the "Winchester" bushel used in England for wheat and corn since the late Middle Ages, and
* a system of measurement for liquid volumes based on the English wine gallon of 1707.

It is remarkable that Congress never established this traditional system, or any other system, as the mandatory system of weights and measures for the United States. In 1832, Congress directed the Treasury Department to standardize the measures used by customs officials at U.S. ports. The Department adopted a report describing the traditional system, and Congress allowed this report to stand without taking any formal action. This is the closest the U.S. has ever come to adopting a single system of measurement. Ironically, the U.S. missed two opportunities in 1832. Americans could have adopted the metric system, which was then at an uncertain point in its history; or they could have decided to align their measurements with the British Imperial measures established by Parliament in 1824 and thus created a possible alternative to the metric system in international commerce.

The metric system originated in France in the 1790's, a few years after Jefferson's proposals. During the mid-nineteenth century, as expanding trade demanded a consistent set of measurements, use of the metric system spread through continental Europe. As they imported goods from Europe or exported goods to Europe, Americans became increasingly aware of the metric system. In 1866, Congress legalized its use in an act reading:

It shall be lawful throughout the United States of America to employ the weights and measures of the metric system; and no contract or dealing, or pleading in any court, shall be deemed invalid or liable to objection because the weights or measures expressed or referred to therein are weights or measures of the metric system.

As a result, the U. S. has been "metric" since 1866, but only in the sense that Americans have been free since that time to use the metric system as much as they like. Although there has always been popular resistance to changing the traditional measures, the metric system has actually enjoyed strong support from American business leaders and scientists since the late nineteenth century. In 1875, the U.S. was one of the original signers of the Treaty of the Meter, which established the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM). This agency administers the International System of Units, the official version of the metric system. American scientists and engineers have always been among the leaders in improving, extending, and revising the metric system. The general public, however, has lagged far behind.

In 1893, Thomas C. Mendenhall, then Superintendent of Weights and Measures in the Treasury Department, concluded that the metric standards, the official meter and kilogram bars supplied by BIPM, should become the standards for all measurement in the U.S. With the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, this decision was made and published; it has since been called the Mendenhall Order. The order didn't mean that metric units had to be used, but since that time the customary units have been defined officially in terms of metric standards. Currently, the foot is legally defined to be exactly 0.3048 meter and the pound is legally defined to equal exactly 453.59237 grams.

In 1901, Congress established the National Bureau of Standards (NBS), now known as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), to support technical standards for American industry and commerce, including the maintenance of standards of weight and measurement. In 1964, NBS announced:

Henceforth it shall be the policy of the National Bureau of Standards to use the units of the International System (SI), as adopted by the 11th General Conference of Weights and Measures, except when the use of these units would obviously impair communication or reduce the usefulness of a report.

In the 1970's there was a major effort to increase the use of the metric system, and Congress passed the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 to speed this process along. However, American consumers generally rejected the use of metric units for highway distances, weather reports, and other common measurements, so little was accomplished except for the encouragement of faster metric conversion in various scientific and technical fields.

In 1988, Congress passed the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act, which designates "the metric system of measurement as the preferred system of weights and measures for United States trade and commerce." Among many other things, the act requires federal agencies to use metric measurements in nearly all of their activities, although there are still exceptions allowing traditional units to be used in documents intended for consumers. The real purpose of the act was to improve the competitiveness of American industry in international markets by encouraging industries to design, produce, and sell products in metric units.

The debate over metric conversion continues. Although metric units have become more familiar and more widely used, the United States remains a "soft metric" country. (The phrase "soft metric" refers to designations like "1 pint (473 mL)" in which metric equivalents are simply tagged onto traditional measurements.)

Proponents of the metric system in the U.S. often claim that "the United States, Liberia, and Burma (or Myanmar) are the only countries that have not adopted the metric system." This statement is not correct with respect to the U.S., and probably it isn't correct with respect to Liberia and Burma, either. The U.S. adopted the metric system in 1866. What the U.S. has failed to do is to restrict or prohibit the use of traditional units in areas touching the ordinary citizen: construction, real estate transactions, retail trade, and education. The U.S. has not made the crucial transition from "soft metric" to "hard metric", so that "1 pint (473 mL)" becomes "500 mL (1.057 pint)", with the traditional equivalent fading into smaller type sizes and finally disappearing.

http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/usmetric.html

wizhard · 05-23-2007, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RegUser

As far as I know, the Brits and US were pissed off because the French manged to push the idea of metric as standard international. The brits on th eother hand snubbed French by clinching GMT to set in Greenwich and not in Paris. As a result the UK and US decided to stay put

But the UK is now completely metric were as the US is'nt and has no intentions of doing so.

CWeb · 05-23-2007, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barefootsies

It's going to take probably in the region of at least 20 years if the US wanted to adopt a metric standard to the same standard of other counties - this is not going to happen overnight. It's a massive task and costly...

wizhard · 05-23-2007, 07:21 PM

Quote:

The U.S. adopted the metric system in 1866

In 1866 Britania so superbly ruled the waves and about 1/3rd of the world with it, including our ,(then), imperial measurement system.

At that time in history the fledgeling USA was still playing "monkey see - monkey do" , but in the modern era, ( especialy since WW2 ), things are very different so your expansive quote is a very,(out-), dated response.

FreeHugeMovies · 05-23-2007, 07:43 PM

We should have, but have not.

jayeff · 05-23-2007, 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wizhard

.......when most of Europe did ?

Not just Europe: there are only three countries in the world which have not officially adopted a metric system: the US, Liberia and what was formerly Burma.

After Shock Media · 05-23-2007, 08:41 PM

We also tried again not long ago, people bitched that they would never understand it.

Truth be told, we are just fucking stupid about some shit.

OzMan · 05-23-2007, 08:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wizhard

Well yes, apologies for the bad gram if you can't use you're common. It should read as follows for nearly illiterate, monkeys an' all ;

......Yes, but to adopt a measurment system that means more to you than anypeep else seems somewhat .....................what is the word now ?.....

I wonder if my clarification will make much of a difference to the replies I wonder ?

babelfish RULEZ

OzMan · 05-23-2007, 08:51 PM

I feel like hitting someone over the head with a 600mm X 1200mm if I had one handy

or a 1200mm X 600mm for you Southern Hemishperians

tony286 · 05-23-2007, 08:52 PM

because we are lazy thats why

Choose · 05-23-2007, 09:38 PM

a lot of American's are too stupid to learn something different!

Blingbaby · 05-23-2007, 09:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 12clicks

we lead, we do not follow.

Even backwards? You've always been such a moron..

sexxxydesign.com · 05-23-2007, 11:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by After Shock Media

We also tried again not long ago, people bitched that they would never understand it.

Truth be told, we are just fucking stupid about some shit.

How difficult can it be? I mean.. you have 10 fingers.. thats all you need to learn the Metric System.. also you allready use a similar system with the US Currency.. its just a matter of pride I think.. but eventually they will make the switch.. almost all the scientific things are made in Metric in the united states.. and the medicine is all metric too..

(:P star trek uses the metric system.. the also think the future is metric :P )

calibra · 05-24-2007, 12:00 AM

What's metric?

05-23-2007, 05:24 PM	#1
wizhard Confirmed User Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 579	Why did'nt the USA go metric ?..... .......when most of Europe did ? __________________ Laughing Out Loud

05-23-2007, 05:24 PM	#2
12clicks Too lazy to set a custom title Industry Role: Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: God's right hand Posts: 19,790	we lead, we do not follow. __________________ I'm not a dinosaur, I'm a crocodile. I've seen dinosaurs come and go and I'm left unimpressed.

05-23-2007, 05:25 PM	#3
needlive Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 2,191	Because the USA is outside Europe. wink __________________ http://www.needlive.com Adult XXX Cams

05-23-2007, 05:26 PM	#4
Spunky I need a beer Industry Role: Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: ♠ Toiletville ♠ Posts: 133,949	Probably the expense and the American people didn't want it.I'm still learning the shit and it's been in Canada for a long time __________________ *YOUR INFORMATION HERE*

05-23-2007, 05:27 PM	#6
cocky Confirmed User Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: On my couch rubbing one off ! Posts: 2,044	way to lazy __________________ The Best Porn Site

05-23-2007, 05:28 PM	#7
Paraskass Confirmed User Join Date: May 2002 Location: QC Posts: 5,829	Metric rocks. Except for highway travel. 60 miles an hour is easier to work out than 100 km an hour. __________________

05-23-2007, 05:28 PM	#8
stickyfingerz Doin fine Industry Role: Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 24,984	Cause my dick is 12"s not 30.5 CM.

05-23-2007, 05:34 PM	#12
pornmasta Too lazy to set a custom title Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 19,284	because they fear to compare sizes

05-23-2007, 05:48 PM	#15
stev0 Confirmed User Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Calgary, Alberta Posts: 6,801	They'll convert sooner or later... a lot of the population is stuck on imperial and the government hasn't pushed it on them like other countries have.

05-23-2007, 05:52 PM	#18
BucksMania Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 3,758	too late for a switch like that

05-23-2007, 05:54 PM	#19
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05-23-2007, 06:28 PM	#25
CWeb Confirmed User Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 245	US is just trying to keep up with Liberia and Burma - about the only two countries to don't use metric. Keep at it

05-23-2007, 06:49 PM	#28
RegUser Confirmed User Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 1,472	As far as I know, the Brits and US were pissed off because the French manged to push the idea of metric as standard international. The brits on th eother hand snubbed French by clinching GMT to set in Greenwich and not in Paris. As a result the UK and US decided to stay put

05-23-2007, 06:50 PM	#29
notabook Confirmed User Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Not a Library! Posts: 9,748	We loves our guns, LOVES OUR GUNS! Oh and Metric sucks. __________________

05-23-2007, 07:04 PM	#33
SPACE GLIDER Confirmed User Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 1,550	We'll NEVER adopt the metric system. It just won't happen. __________________ EarnCoin - Revive Your Ratios Now! Pain Lessons \|Orgastic Shock \| Snatch Sizers

05-23-2007, 07:06 PM	#35
schneemann Confirmed User Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 749	Money, that's why. We, collectively though not consciously, decided NOT to buy shit measured into metric units. Companies that wanted to "lead the way" to metrics quickly learned the hard way that we don't want that shit. __________________ Deranged World

05-23-2007, 07:43 PM	#41
FreeHugeMovies Too lazy to set a custom title Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 14,137	We should have, but have not.

05-23-2007, 08:41 PM	#43
After Shock Media It's coming look busy Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn". Posts: 35,299	We also tried again not long ago, people bitched that they would never understand it. Truth be told, we are just fucking stupid about some shit. __________________ [email protected] ICQ:135982156 AIM: Aftershockmed1a MSN: [email protected]

05-23-2007, 08:51 PM	#45
OzMan Confirmed User Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Los Begas Posts: 9,162	I feel like hitting someone over the head with a 600mm X 1200mm if I had one handy or a 1200mm X 600mm for you Southern Hemishperians

05-23-2007, 08:52 PM	#46
tony286 lurker Industry Role: Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: atlanta Posts: 57,021	because we are lazy thats why

05-23-2007, 09:38 PM	#47
Choose So Fucking Banned Join Date: May 2007 Location: MD Posts: 135	a lot of American's are too stupid to learn something different!

05-24-2007, 12:00 AM	#50
calibra Confirmed User Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 4,357	What's metric? __________________ GetCyberCash.com