(Untitled)

[kaze_to_kodoku]

I've got a question. I noticed in the book (I'm rereading it for the umpteenth time) that they refer to speeds and distances in miles. I always thought that the UK used kilometers and all that jazz. However, I live on the other side of the pond, so I may be wrong. Am I, or is that Neil Gaiman being American?

Comments

[redbird]

The UK is officially metric, but there's a lot of left-over usage of imperial units. It's only in the last few years that almost everything has been required to be measured only in metric units for commercial purposes. (Exceptions include that beer and milk may both still be sold in pints.) Road signs give distances in kilometres, though, and have for years.

[I'm also American, so I welcome corrections and elaborations from anyone actually resident in the UK.)

Note also that while Neil Gaiman has lived in the US for quite a while, PTerry is a UK resident.

[elfbystarlight]

Road signs give distances in kilometres, though, and have for years.

Not in England. Two measurements are used, depending on where you are - miles, or Cornish miles.

(Cornish road signs frequently say something is ten miles, and eight miles later tell you again that you have ten miles to go. ;) )

Most commercial food-y things haven't been labeled in imperial for some time - certainly my generation (~25) were raised in metric for such things (though we typically 'speak' imperial at home). This is not consistent - height is still in feet an inches, and weight in stones.

[elfbystarlight]

(Although you are right that it was only recently that we were required to stop labelling things in imperial, to the great distress of everyone over 50 and the total lack of even registering it to everyone under.)

[espresso_addict]

There's an in-between generation, into which I fall, who failed to form an intuitive understanding of either set of units.

[elfbystarlight]

And those of us who can understand what 30cm of ruler looks like but can't grasp what 182cm of height is.

Or 1kg of flour but not 55kg of person.

[tocada]

*is venezuelan and thus only has issues with the non metric system* LOL

[redbird]

Thanks. I blame that error on having spent more time in Canada than in England, the last few years--Canadian roadsigns are in kilometers, though people still refer to miles, and the common measure of fuel efficiency is "miles per litre."

A good friend of mine, who is Welsh, likes her doctor to give her weight in kilograms, because they don't feel "real" to her, and stone (or pounds, which she converts readily to stone) do.

[elfbystarlight]

Hee! Makes sense.

[cynicaloptimist]

Yes, we talk about miles per litre for fuel efficiency here in the UK.

[caedesdeo]

I just have to butt in here:
1) I love your icon. hehehee...
2) Dude, where in Sheffield?! This is the first time I've found someone also from Sheffield who I didn't already know!

[cynicaloptimist]

Hi - sorry about the slow reply.

I currently live near Gleadless Townend, although I've lived all over the city (a born-and-bred Sheffield lass, despite some time studying and working in London).

Whereabouts are you then?

[caedesdeo]

S'ok.

Currently in Preston at uni, but I'm a native of Loxley.

[shinrin_namida]

This is not consistent - height is still in feet an inches, and weight in stones.

...Arrrrh!! That's true!! And it makes life a real hell when you're cooking/looking at sales/filling in questionnaries or dealing with doctors at least for a poor French girl that hasn't been living here long enough to get used to it yet. Tssss, another trick of Crowley, maybe? ;)

[nellie_darlin]

OMG I noticed that! Or rather, you'll have two or three signposts, each a mile apart, saying it's a mile to your destination...

In England, road signs are all in miles, as are speed limits and speed- and mileometers. However, I'd buy a litre of coke. Except milk is still served in pints, just to confuse you.

[espresso_addict]

Road signs still give distances in miles.