[brey]

For some reason, in the UK at least, desks do seem to be measured in mm, yes. It's not a particularly common unit for measuring other large items though, more generally we'll use metres and centimetres (with the correct spelling ;-)

[naikrovek]

You know that weird "re" spelling on your words, as well as the "ou" in "colour" for example, are borrowed from French. The spelling of those words (and many others) did not include those letters in those orders until someone in England thought that "maybe France wouldn't hate us so much if we adopted some of their spelling."

Source: I asked someone who has a Masters in English and forgot most of what she said, so don't hold my feet to the fire on details.

My point is that non-American English spelling is wrong in many cases, intentionally. So don't go around saying you're correct. You mutilated your own language to appease the French.

[twic]

Hold on, though. "Metres" as a unit is a French word, because Napoleon invented the metric system during the French revolution as a break with the feudal past (source: i asked someone who has a PhD in the history of science and forgot most of what they said). For devices which measure things, we use the proper spelling - i have a gas meter, an electricity meter, and an iambic pentameter.

If we're going to talk about the deliberate sabotage of orthography, then surely Noah Webster's "thru", "catalog", etc are the most outrageous?

That said, as with metre/meter, we have at least salvaged some Websterisms as adding nuance to the language. In the UK, i write computer programs, but pretend to enjoy opera programmes.