DRINKA PINTA MILK FOREVER

The pint is the single most British thing I could think of. Nowadays the metric system seems to have developed into a global standard but the UK is known to be the last stronghold of other measurements. Brits manage successfully to keep this weird metres and litres at bay.

Representing this other way of British measuring is the pint (some 0.57 litres). You get milk in pints and even more importantly pubs serve in pints or half-pints. Getting half a litre in a pub is something unheard of. Litres must have been so alien to the English-speaking world that they still are not sure on how to write it; litre or liter?

Another quintessentially British unit is the stone used for measuring body weight (1 stone equals 6.35 kg). Brits would usually tell their weight in stone and then convert it in kilos. They tend to look a bit exerted during the exercise but I guess this is just for show. While kilos are a bit abstract and technical a stone sounds heavy and brings a picture to your mind. It feels that large parts of the British population took up the fight against the extinction of the stone unit. Their solution is to put on weight and thus help many stones to live happy lifes.

Credit: http://tinyurl.com/7lsmgfh

When the British expanded their Empire over the globe they also brought along their measurement units. Counting distances in miles and feet are the only units of measurements which I know of that seem to have stayed over time. Actually I really like feet. If you are fortunate enough to climb Ben Nevis you’ll be much prouder when you mastered an altitude of staggering 4,409 ft rather than just 1,344 metres. Note that the BBC runs websites where you have the honour to convert distances measured in mundane metres into the grand ‘Imperial’ system.

Another example of two systems that run parallel is the Fahrenheit and Celcius scales used for temperature. You may choose your favourite and this will pretty much depend on where you grew up. The BBC has been forecasting the temperature in Celcius for some 20 years but would add practically always “this means in Fahrenheit...”. After more than two decades the British public (or the BBC?) is not ready for this dramatic change in their news coverage. The typical British response would be that „we’re just too stubborn“. I’m not so sure if this is stubbornness or just a working system. If it ain’t broken don’t fix it. Could it be a romantic reminder of the Empire? A statement towards Europe and EU efforts to standardise everything? Maybe it's just treasuring old traditions and cultural heritage.

Tourists and business travellers shouldn’t mind this too much. I guess it should not be too surprising that in other countries some things work differently. Besides discovering new stuff might be fun.