What Size ? Imperial vs Metric.
A friend of mine shared with me a story the other day that I found hilarious.
Her brother was doing DIY on his house and went to a local trade hardware store to buy some wood.
The conversation went a little like this :-
” I need some 8 feet of 4×2 please. “
” Sorry mate ” said the assistant, ” We don’t do it like that anymore. It needs to be in the metric system now. European guidelines and all that. “
” Okay ” said her brother and quickly worked out what it may be.
” I need some 4 metres of erm…. 10×5 ? “
” No ” said the assistant, ” you mean 4 metres of 4×2 ! “
” @*x%x ” Said her brother, ” I need a length of that wood over there ! “
I hope you find it as funny as I did.
Wayne = ))
Richard Veal
It is a weird thing Wayne, and it is true what you say.
There will always be 2×1, or 4×2 in woodwork, but the length will always be in metres.
Same as screw sizes. They are always known in imperial.
Plumbing though, and sparking, will always be in metric.
Wayne Holman replied
It’s funny isn’t it mate. So, how long is a piece of string ???? LOL
Richard Veal
What diameter is it?? LOL
Wayne Holman replied
About this big ! LOL
BYRON
a piece of string is exactly twice the distance from the middle to the other end!
Wayne Holman replied
Ah ! Now I know, thanks mate = ))
BYRON
no worries, everyone wants to know the answer to that one!
BYRON
I am the son of a builder, and ex-printer (from Readers Digest) my world was full of metric, imperial, printing (points, picas…), but for the life of me I never understood why linear lengths of timber are metric and dimensions are imperial…
hardhhhat
No, no, no, a piece of string is as long as it needs to be and if it isn’t then it’s a fish.
Wayne Holman replied
That makes complete sense HH…. all apart from the fish bit. Thanks though mate = )) lol
Jen Davies
lol funny! bloody imperial, metric etc i always get confused! lol
Wayne Holman replied
Me too Jen, I think the best way to show the size of anything is to use your arms and say ” about this much ” lol = ))
Sue Buckingham
Well they do say size matters LOL xx
Wayne Holman replied
Lucky I’ve got a 70 – 300mm lens then Sue…. or is it 2.5 – 12 Inches, not sure !! LOL = ))
Jen Davies
lmao true! thats usually the way i measure things with my arms! lol
hardhhhat
Ah the fish is very important if you don’t know how long your piece of string is or needs to be but then I’d have to explain the cod vs haddock theory and implement the makerel absolvement causing much heart ache.
Maybe we should call it impetric or meperial and mix and match or is that more confusing?
Wayne Holman replied
Eh ? LOL = ))