Why America will never switch to the metric system

[John Cuthber]

Snail, you said "Ounces and fluid ounces are different".

In a very real sense; one is weight and the other is volume. But (from the OED) here are the conversion factors.

liquid measure

One pint=20 fluid ounces = 0.568 Litres

 

Weight (avoirdupois)

1 pound =16 ounces

1 ounce = 16 drams = 28.35 grams

 

To the extrent that 568/20 ie 28.4 is not the same as 28.35 (and, let's face it; that's just a rounding error) it is true to say that an ounce is not the same as a fluid ounce. A fluid ounce of water weighs an ounce, and an English pint is 20 ounces or 568 ml.

 

I'd still like to know how strong typical beer is in the US.

[GutZ]

4-5% average?

[the tree]

If you ensure that you drink something with the same of the drink written on the glass, then you know that you are getting it the right quantity, and that that is how the relevant authority intended you to drink it. That is my philosophy.

[swansont]

BTW, what's the typical strength of American beer (I realise there will be a huge range; whats the mode?)

 

The colloquial expression is "sex in a canoe."

 

[hide]i.e. f^*!ng close to water[/hide]

[Dak]

4-5% average my limey arse.

 

I tried to get drunk on beer in the US. i gave up. i am not joking.

 

relatedly, my american mate started falling off his chair after 2 pints when he came to the UK

[CPL.Luke]

depends on the beer, if you drink coors or something along those lines your never going to get drunk.

 

if you try something like a sam adams lager/ double bock or any of ther others I mentioned you'll get the same alcohol as you would in the UK

[MolotovCocktail]

I read somewhere that the USA has been contemplating switching over to the metric system since 1866

[John Cuthber]

Perhaps they should get the imperial system right first.

[geoguy]

I read somewhere that the USA has been contemplating switching over to the metric system since 1866

 

I deal with U.S. geologists and U.S. science journals every day. 100% in metric. A lot of the US has switched over for decades.

Then they return to that watery beer in imperial cans.

 

An american comes to Canada and take a drink out of the beer bottle and spits it out:

"Good god man, there's alcohol in that beer!"

[MolotovCocktail]

Well, America is trying to establish itself an empire right now, it is only fitting that it should establish an imperial system of its own lol.

[Klaynos]

I deal with U.S. geologists and U.S. science journals every day. 100% in metric. A lot of the US has switched over for decades.

Then they return to that watery beer in imperial cans.

 

An american comes to Canada and take a drink out of the beer bottle and spits it out:

"Good god man, there's alcohol in that beer!"

 

In the UK it's even crazier, nearly everything is sold in metric units, except beer, milk, and a few other things, road signs are nearly all in miles, tons, feet and inches.

 

Adds an extra level of excitement to the world...

[insane_alien]

In the UK it's even crazier, nearly everything is sold in metric units, except beer, milk, and a few other things, road signs are nearly all in miles, tons, feet and inches.

 

Adds an extra level of excitement to the world...

 

also, we're better at conversions between SI and imperial. just cos we see it every day. although, i am starting to use SI units more and more. the other day my mum asked me what temperature it was going to be today(the weather was on) and i replied in kelvin. completely automatic unit converstion. totally didn't mean it.

[Pangloss]

Most Americans actually view the "metric issue" as old business. About the only time you hear it mentioned is in '70s and '80s retrospectives, along with disco dancing, the rise of the Hollywood "blockbuster", stagflation and the cold war.

[bascule]

My word! Do you lot really not know that a pint is 20 ounces (568ml)?

 

Apparently not. Interesting:

 

http://www.google.com/search?q=1+us+pint+to+fluid+ounces

 

1 US pint = 16 US fluid ounces

 

http://www.google.com/search?q=1+imperial+pint+to+fluid+ounces

 

1 Imperial pint = 19.2152067 US fluid ounces

 

I believe therein lies the confusion.

 

Wow.

 

So when you go to a bar, and order a pint, do you really get 568 ml of beer? If so, that's insane.

 

(And if this post isn't proof that we all need to switch to the metric system, I don't know what is)

[insane_alien]

last time i was at a bar we were drinking it by the pitcher thats 4 pints or 2.2 litres not sure what happened afterwards though.

[Klaynos]

So when you go to a bar, and order a pint, do you really get 568 ml of beer? If so, that's insane.

 

It would be illegal in the UK for them to serve anything else if you ordered a pint

[John Cuthber]

Bascule, Why would it be insane to get a pint when you ordered one? We have been drinking pints here since before there was a US of A and it seems to have worked well enough.

(As Klaynos pointed out it would be illegal not to, but that's not the point; whats wrong with a pint?)

[Sayonara]

So when you go to a bar, and order a pint, do you really get 568 ml of beer? If so, that's insane.

 

I don't see why ordering 568ml of beer should be any less sane than ordering 500ml of beer.

[Severian]

If you order a pint, isn't it more natural to give you one pint, rather than 0.88028169014084507042253521126761 pints? That would just be insane!

[bascule]

I don't see why ordering 568ml of beer should be any less sane than ordering 500ml of beer.

 

I'm having enough trouble getting anything more than 355ml, which is what Americans call a pint *shrug*

[bascule]

If you order a pint, isn't it more natural to give you one pint, rather than 0.88028169014084507042253521126761 pints? That would just be insane!

 

We get 0.625 pints