[bogomipz]

Yeah there is no good reason why the US hasn't.

Common usage shows that Americans have no issues adopting the metric system, just very selectively. Americans currently enjoy:

1 Liter and 2 Liter bottles of Coke

Muscle cars with engines that are specified in liters

5K and 10K races

drug prescriptions in which doses are specified in milligrams

750 ML bottles of booze

Monthly power bills that are specified in Killowatt hours

[gumby]

> Common usage shows that Americans have no issues adopting the metric system, just very selectively. Americans currently enjoy:... > Monthly power bills that are specified in Killowatt hours

Kilowatt-hours are not SI, the metrics unit is the Joule (or MJ in the case of your power bill). However the US joined the Metric convention in 1878 and has used the internationally standardized metric inch of precisely 2.54 mm since 1959 (except, I believe, for surveying)

Plenty of so-called "metric" countries continue to use customary units such as miles (UK) though those are based on the metric inch. I still hear people talk about their weight in stone. Germany uses a metricised pound (Pfund) of 500 g. Japan still commonly uses the tsubo (坪) for land. India also uses a variety of official land measurements, and also doesn't break its numbers symmetrically into blocks of 10^3 (preferring lakhs and crores). etc etc

I am not a fan of the metric system in daily use (though I use Celsius). For work I have used the official systems MKS and (US) Imperial, but have also used cgs and imperial imperial. For building a staircase, making the riser a convenient 2/3 of a foot is physiologically ideal.

If there is a god it was cruel for giving us five digits on each hand. Far better would have been one fewer or, even better, a thumb on the other side.

[Symbiote]

A "metric pound" of 500g is an argument in favour of metrication. Pfund is just a special name for 500g. It's not very common anyway, probably following a reduction in people buying food by weight from markets.

2/3 foot is 203mm. You wouldn't notice any difference with stairs of 200mm.

[bogomipz]

Well feet is used almost exclusively in commercial aviation to specify altitude.

This is true around the globe, the only exception to this being Russia and China.

[bogomipz]

So lets see I presented 6 real-life humorous observations and was downvoted?

Did someone interpret this as anti-American?

This was meant meant to be tongue-in-cheek. Please look at the items in the list - it's drugs, booze, sports cars and junk food!

Why is there so little for a sense of humor on HN? Must everything be so serious?

The main discussion is about a country changing its calendar Gregorian in the year 2017 after all, jeez.

[planteen]

Were power bills at some point sent in units of horsepower hours?