[fromageGB]

Asking for a pound of pork in Germany and getting 500g sounds like the wurst of both worlds.

[Zelandakh]

 gordontd, on 2016-July-25, 09:23, said:

Now it's my turn to ask for your source!

The most famous case is this one, which took place very early on after the changeover:
Link 1
Link 2

Note this quote from the first one:

Quote

It is legal for customers to ask for goods by the pound and to know what goods cost by the pound, but the trader has to deal in kilogrammes when weighing goods for sale.

Similarly this link, which provides a similar text when referring to the same case:

Quote

A customer is allowed to ask for loose goods by the pound but the shopkeeper is required to weigh the goods using metric scales.

Now it is true that the charge brought in this case was for an illegal weighing machine. That is a legal technicality and is typically the charge even if the weighing machine itself would be legal if the transaction had been done in metric. If the metric price is not displayed then it is not legal irrespective of whether the scales are metric or not. Where a different charge is specifically brought are cases in which no measure is given. That applies, for example, to (one of) the last metric martyr(s), Janet Devers, who sold peppers by the bowl and was prosecuted for this in addition to the standard illegal scales charges.

 fromageGB, on 2016-July-25, 09:32, said:

Asking for a pound of pork in Germany and getting 500g sounds like the wurst of both worlds.

Groan, you spider!

[cherdano]

 fromageGB, on 2016-July-25, 09:32, said:

Asking for a pound of pork in Germany and getting 500g sounds like the wurst of both worlds.

Better than getting British fromage.

[kenberg]

I have not been following this thread much since the vote, but I think if I went to the local meat counter and asked for 700 mg of pork
[Added: oops, I meant 700 gm. But 700 mg would also get a blank stare. Understandably.]
I would be met with, at best, a blank stare. Asking for 10 ounces is iffy. Asking for 0.625 pounds would be absurd, since I really don't care whether I get 0.628 or even 0.682 pounds.

Some years back I was driving in Canada, mentally converting kilometer per hour speed limits to miles per hour. After a couple of days of this I suddenly noticed some little blue numbers on the dashboard arranged concentrically with the black mph numbers. And there seemed to be a pattern to them!

I hope you all sort this out. I am pretty sure we are stuck with feet and inches until the cows come home, and home is many rods away.

[mgoetze]

 Zelandakh, on 2016-July-25, 08:31, said:

Notice that I can also order a pound of pork here in Germany. In that case I will receive 500g rather than 454g.

Really... all the butchers I have ever been to will generously cut you somewhere between 550g and 600g and ask "is that alright?"

[Aberlour10]

I like to watch vids about cocktail receipes, but every time I ask me WTF this dude means with "ounce" 2,5 cl or 3cl or smthg else

[Zelandakh]

 Aberlour10, on 2016-July-25, 15:39, said:

I like to watch vids about cocktail receipes, but every time I ask me WTF this dude means with "ounce" 2,5 cl or 3cl or smthg else

An ounce is 30mL and based on an American jigger - for comparison a British jigger is 25mL on the small side. If you take a look around the internet you will find plenty of sites that will explain cocktail measurements.

[fromageGB]

 kenberg, on 2016-July-25, 12:51, said:

I have not been following this thread much since the vote, but I think if I went to the local meat counter and asked for 700 mg of pork I would be met with, at best, a blank stare.

Any idea how big 700mg of pork is? I suppose you had a fork-lift with you to take it away !

[Al_U_Card]

 fromageGB, on 2016-July-26, 06:00, said:

Any idea how big 700mg of pork is? I suppose you had a fork-lift with you to take it away !

LOL even a fork might be too much seeing as 700 mg is about 1/50th of an ounce...

[Zelandakh]

 Al_U_Card, on 2016-July-26, 06:02, said:

LOL even a fork might be too much seeing as 700 mg is about 1/50th of an ounce...

He was confusing mg (milligrams) with Mg (megagrams). Is an easy thing to do.

[mgoetze]

 Zelandakh, on 2016-July-26, 07:15, said:

He was confusing mg (milligrams) with Mg (megagrams). Is an easy thing to do.

I was assuming he meant millikilograms.

[kenberg]

 fromageGB, on 2016-July-26, 06:00, said:

Any idea how big 700mg of pork is? I suppose you had a fork-lift with you to take it away !

Oops. I meant 700 gm. A pound plus a bit. I see I also screwed up saying ounces when I meant pounds at one point. I need another drink..

And I learned something. I knew mg for milligram, like mm for millimeter, but I was unaware of Mg for megagram. So a Kg is 2.2 pounds or so, a Mg is 2200 pounds or so. If I have this righ, yes, it could be difficult getting it all home.

I guess if ordering by e-mail we need to be careful in typing mg or Mg. I am a lousy typist, this seems dangerous.

[shyams]

 kenberg, on 2016-July-26, 08:55, said:

Oops. I meant 700 gm. A pound plus a bit. I see I also screwed up saying ounces when I meant pounds at one point. I need another drink..

And I learned something. I knew mg for milligram, like mm for millimeter, but I was unaware of Mg for megagram. So a Kg is 2.2 pounds or so, a Mg is 2200 pounds or so. If I have this righ, yes, it could be difficult getting it all home.

Although Megagram is technically available, it is rarely used. The preferred phrase is ton (or "metric ton"); representing 1,000 kilograms.

[Zelandakh]

 shyams, on 2016-July-26, 09:15, said:

The preferred phrase is ton (or "metric ton"); representing 1,000 kilograms.

I think you mean tonne. I am (just) old enough to find it natural to use the 1970s pronunciation of this ("tunny"). And yes, while I would use tonne when ordering rather a large helping of bananas, I would still use Mg when calculating something in physics. Different situations, different solutions....which sort of brings us back to the debate about imperial measurements.

[Trinidad]

This is the one oddity in the SI system that, IMHO, should have been fixed: The kg is the official unit of mass. It means that you cannot use the natural multipliers. If one would be really consistent then a gram would be a "mkg" and a ton a "kkg".

I wish they would have come up with an entirely new unit of mass, with a new name (e.g. the Euler, E) and defined it as 1 kg. Then a gram would be a mE and a ton would be a kE. That would be much easier for engineers and scientists. Alternatively, the gram could have been the official unit of mass.

Rik

[helene_t]

I can live with that. I wish they would have measured time in microdays instead of seconds, though. Converting seconds to minutes to days is just as much of a PITA as inches to feet to yards.

There were clocks made just after the French revolution that measured time in decimal fractions of 24h, but obviously hours, minutes and seconds was such an established standard already that it was hard to compete. Meters and kilograms benefitted from the fact that there was an unmet need for international standards.

[Trinidad]

So, it takes about 7 md to boil a hard boiled egg, our work week would be 1.5 d, the freeway speed limit in the Netherlands would be 3.12 Mm/d. And imagine my internet! 8 Tb/d! My computer would run at 0.24 Pd^-1 (it is an old one).

Rik

[Al_U_Card]

The chemist in me says Mg was already taken (Magnesium) but as far as weights and measures go, a favourite book of mine is: "The Measure of all things." by Ken Alder. A fascinating insight into the meter and its ascendance as part of the SI (Systeme International)

[shyams]

A new 'Cold war'?
My wild conjecture? Or does anyone else feel there is something in it?

Summary: (It is my guess that) The administrations/heads of France and the UK have declared 'cold war' styled hostilities on each other.
Why do I believe this?

• In the weeks leading to the Brexit vote, France was pointedly critical of the UK for offering a Brexit vote. They threatened to cancel the bilateral agreement that currently places the UK border control in Calais, France (instead of on British soil in Dover)
  
• In the past year, France has faced some difficulty due to refugees/migrants who want to claim asylum in the UK not being allowed in due to the control placed in Calais.
  Furthermore, France has come under pressure from international humanitarian organisations for letting a jungle with poor living standards that housed many refugees.
  
• Since the election of Mrs May to the post of Prime Minister, there have been many events that must have angered France
  
  • The PM 'dared' to visit Mrs Merkel first, instead of our near & dear neighbour France -- with whom we have 'close relations'!
    
  • The PM chose to make Boris Johnson as our chief diplomat, the very person who had insulted France on many occasions!
    
  • The personal chemistry between Mrs May & Mrs Merkel was evident from their joint press conference, the absence of such chemistry loomed large over the joint press conference with Pres Hollande
    
  • France has suffered terrible atrocities, while Britain (touch wood) has remained unscathed
  
  ......There are some new signals emanating from France:
  
• In the last few weeks, the French have resumed making noise about border control at Calais, although the official position of the French Govt is (allegedly) unchanged
  
• Last week, during the height of the vacation season when many Brits drive down to France, the French Govt decided to impose strict border controls at Dover! This caused huge resentment among Brits using the Channel Tunnel for onward vacationing in France.
  
• Today (as a tit for tat action?), the UK Govt suddenly stopped the signing of a nuclear power plant deal with EDF -- a company that is 85% owned by the French Govt!

Coincidence? I think not! That's why I feel UK's position in Europe is only going downhill, fast.

[1eyedjack]

 shyams, on 2016-July-29, 11:35, said:

A new 'Cold war'?
My wild conjecture? Or does anyone else feel there is something in it?

Summary: (It is my guess that) The administrations/heads of France and the UK have declared 'cold war' styled hostilities on each other.
Why do I believe this?

• In the weeks leading to the Brexit vote, France was pointedly critical of the UK for offering a Brexit vote. They threatened to cancel the bilateral agreement that currently places the UK border control in Calais, France (instead of on British soil in Dover)
• In the past year, France has faced some difficulty due to refugees/migrants who want to claim asylum in the UK not being allowed in due to the control placed in Calais.
  Furthermore, France has come under pressure from international humanitarian organisations for letting a jungle with poor living standards that housed many refugees.
• Since the election of Mrs May to the post of Prime Minister, there have been many events that must have angered France
  • The PM 'dared' to visit Mrs Merkel first, instead of our near & dear neighbour France -- with whom we have 'close relations'!
  • The PM chose to make Boris Johnson as our chief diplomat, the very person who had insulted France on many occasions!
  • The personal chemistry between Mrs May & Mrs Merkel was evident from their joint press conference, the absence of such chemistry loomed large over the joint press conference with Pres Hollande
  • France has suffered terrible atrocities, while Britain (touch wood) has remained unscathed
  
  ......There are some new signals emanating from France:
  
• In the last few weeks, the French have resumed making noise about border control at Calais, although the official position of the French Govt is (allegedly) unchanged
• Last week, during the height of the vacation season when many Brits drive down to France, the French Govt decided to impose strict border controls at Dover! This caused huge resentment among Brits using the Channel Tunnel for onward vacationing in France.
• Today (as a tit for tat action?), the UK Govt suddenly stopped the signing of a nuclear power plant deal with EDF -- a company that is 85% owned by the French Govt!

Coincidence? I think not! That's why I feel UK's position in Europe is only going downhill, fast.

Add to that, Juncker has appointed as the EU chief negotiator an individual who is probably the most trenchant anti-Brit that you could possibly find in the corridors of Brussels.

And yes, the Hinckley Point debacle has to be a political gambit. Gods I hope they know what they are doing. Scant evidence so far, mind.