Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

>with a couple others ones in a handful of countries still using something called « imperial units ».

The only country I know of offhand that uses "imperial units" is the UK.

There's a different, but similar (and sometimes overlapping) system called "US Customary Units" that's used in the US. Imperial pints and gallons are NOT the same as US pints and gallons.




Thanks ! Sorry I overlooked this. Did a little research and I think the most confusing in this is the ton. At least, pints, gallons and miles have a different name than the metric unit and are way different than their SI equivalent. Not close by around 10%, one more (the long ton) and one less (the short ton). A perfect way to get the wrong quantity of a thing without noticing it at first. And if that’s not confusing enough, using « long » and « short » for a mass unit..

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonne


the UK pint is bigger than the US pint. Know this before visiting and it could just save you a hangover.


The now relatively uncommon UK gallon is the volume occupied by ten lbs of water in the same way a litre of water weighs a kilogram. Not only are the pints bigger there’s also twenty ounces (also rarely used now) in them which means a fluid ounce of water weighs by definition an ounce in the imperial system.


Though they like to pretend otherwise, there's still quite a bit of non metric use in Canada.


We use a mix of everything in the UK, although metric is common in many areas where it matters.


As a US observer, my favorite UK unit is the stone.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_(unit)




Consider applying for YC's W25 batch! Applications are open till Nov 12.

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: