On 29/12/2011 10:53, Martin Rich wrote:

"Phil Kane" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 28 Dec 2011 12:03:35 +0000, "
wrote:

They haven't used pre-decimal coins here since the early '70s.

In the 10 days that I spent in London in 1967 I had almost figured out
the British monetary system including the localisms, now mostly
forgotten. Do the kids growing up there recognize that at all?

If you are familiar with these generational categories, a rough guide is
that baby boomers (born between WWII and around 1960-1964) who grew up
in the UK will have learned pe-decimal currency at primary school, while
members of generation X (born from 1960-1964 until around 1980) won't.

Martin
I know people who were born as late as 1962 who remember pre-decimal
with all clarity. I even showed that individual a half-crown, to which
he remarked that it would have been a decent amount of money for him at
a younger age.

On 29/12/2011 12:19, Richard Roberts wrote:
On 28/12/11 23:24, wrote:
On 28/12/2011 19:07, Phil Kane wrote:
On Wed, 28 Dec 2011 12:03:35 +0000, "
wrote:

They haven't used pre-decimal coins here since the early '70s.

In the 10 days that I spent in London in 1967 I had almost figured out
the British monetary system including the localisms, now mostly
forgotten. Do the kids growing up there recognize that at all?
--

A system that hasn't been in use in over 40 years? No.

They might just understand "Bob" I suppose.

The UK government have (half-heartedly) been trying to remove old units
of measurement for about as long, and that's not going too well.
Arguably, non-metric units haven't been in full use for 30 years, and
people of all ages are still familiar with them.

Richard.

Speed limits continue to be posted in miles in the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as well as on the Isle of Man.

It is not uncommon to see fruit hawkers at markets sell fruit on the
premise: "A pound of weight for a pound sterling."

People are still weighed in stone, with 1 stone equalling 14 pounds.

On 29/12/2011 15:51, Robert Neville wrote:
Richard wrote:

The UK government have (half-heartedly) been trying to remove old units
of measurement for about as long, and that's not going too well.
Arguably, non-metric units haven't been in full use for 30 years, and
people of all ages are still familiar with them.

And then there are things that are priced by weight and sold by unit... I was in
a Devon Tesco this past summer at the deli counter and wanted to purchase a
small amount of sliced ham. In the US I'd ask for a 1/4 pound. The price tag on
the ham listed the price in metric units and then helpfully listed the
equivilent price in imperial weight. I asked for about 100 grams. The clerk
responded, "so you want 3 or 4 slices then?"

I much prefer metric when weighing things, I have to say.

On 29/12/2011 17:01, Peter T. Daniels wrote:
On Dec 29, 10:51 am, Robert wrote:
Richard wrote:
The UK government have (half-heartedly) been trying to remove old units
of measurement for about as long, and that's not going too well.
Arguably, non-metric units haven't been in full use for 30 years, and
people of all ages are still familiar with them.

And then there are things that are priced by weight and sold by unit... I was in
a Devon Tesco this past summer at the deli counter and wanted to purchase a
small amount of sliced ham. In the US I'd ask for a 1/4 pound. The price tag on
the ham listed the price in metric units and then helpfully listed the
equivilent price in imperial weight. I asked for about 100 grams. The clerk
responded, "so you want 3 or 4 slices then?"

But maybe their slices are very different in thickness than ours! 4
oz. might be two sandwiches, which could be 8 slices of the very thin
kind favored these days.

Hardly! Ask them to thinly slice it, if you want.

On Thu, 29 Dec 2011 08:51:13 -0700, Robert Neville
wrote:

The price tag on
the ham listed the price in metric units and then helpfully listed the
equivilent price in imperial weight. I asked for about 100 grams. The clerk
responded, "so you want 3 or 4 slices then?"

A customer enters a pizza shop asks the clerk "How many slices do you
cut a large pizza into?". "Eight" is the reply. The customer asks
"can you slice a large pizza into six slices?". "Certainly, but why
do you want that done?" The customer replied "I can't eat eight
pieces of pizza..."
--

"Stand Clear of the Closing Doors, Please"

Phil Kane - Beaverton, OR
PNW Beburg MP 28.0 - OE District

In article , ()
wrote:

People are still weighed in stone, with 1 stone equalling 14 pounds.

It depends where you're looking. The NHS has been into kilos since at least
when my elder daughter was born in 1986.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In message , at 15:11:30
on Thu, 29 Dec 2011, remarked:
People are still weighed in stone, with 1 stone equalling 14 pounds.

It depends where you're looking. The NHS has been into kilos since at least
when my elder daughter was born in 1986.

I don't recall ever having domestic scales in stone (always pounds), but
perhaps those huge coin-in-the-slot ones in public places were stones
and pounds. The growth charts my children had in the early 90's (they
were weighed regularly and the results put in a little red folder) from
the NHS were bi-lingual, in both Kg and Lbs.
--
Roland Perry

On Dec 29, 1:53*pm, "
wrote:
On 29/12/2011 17:01, Peter T. Daniels wrote:





On Dec 29, 10:51 am, Robert *wrote:
Richard *wrote:
The UK government have (half-heartedly) been trying to remove old units
of measurement for about as long, and that's not going too well.
Arguably, non-metric units haven't been in full use for 30 years, and
people of all ages are still familiar with them.

And then there are things that are priced by weight and sold by unit.... I was in
a Devon Tesco this past summer at the deli counter and wanted to purchase a
small amount of sliced ham. In the US I'd ask for a 1/4 pound. The price tag on
the ham listed the price in metric units and then helpfully listed the
equivilent price in imperial weight. I asked for about 100 grams. The clerk
responded, "so you want 3 or 4 slices then?"

But maybe their slices are very different in thickness than ours! 4
oz. might be two sandwiches, which could be 8 slices of the very thin
kind favored these days.

Hardly! Ask them to thinly slice it, if you want.-

Which makes the server's question utterly impractical and
incomprehensible.

"Peter T. Daniels" wrote:

Which makes the server's question utterly impractical and
incomprehensible.

Sorry - I should have made it clear - the ham was presliced, with pricing in
metric and imperial units by weight. I assumed as it was priced by weight that
it would be sold by weight and that my stating "approximately" 100g would have
been sufficient for the server to work out how many slices that would equate to.
Later I noticed that other customers were asking for sliced lunchmeats by the
slice count as well - so it must be a local custom.

On Dec 29, 6:03*pm, Robert Neville wrote:
"Peter T. Daniels" wrote:

Which makes the server's question utterly impractical and
incomprehensible.

Sorry - I should have made it clear - the ham was presliced, with pricing in
metric and imperial units by weight. I assumed as it was priced by weight that
it would be sold by weight and that my stating "approximately" 100g would have
been sufficient for the server to work out how many slices that would equate to.
Later I noticed that other customers were asking for sliced lunchmeats by the
slice count as well - so it must be a local custom.

That seems rather unsanitary -- every pass of the knife or the slicing
machine exposes futher surfaces to possible contamination, and the
longer it sits, the staler it becomes! Not sliced to order -- or not
sealed in an airtight package -- isn't the way to go.