US measurement system,i don't get it. - Page 7

It's a large glass (1 1/2 pints IIRC).

in Australia a schooner is a US pint (425mL?) and only served in the Eastern States because the blokes over there are a little soft.

pints are always imperial pints (570mLs)

you can also get a Pony - 140mL (only drunk by returned servicemen) and half pints are called middys, handles or pots depending on what state you live in.

The US measurement system, or US Customary Measurement system, is a relative of and is very similar to the British Imperial Measurement System. It, much like the Imperial units are in Britain, are entrenched in their respective areas. Even to this day, long after adopting the metric system, measurements in the UK are often listed in both systems, as many people are accustomed to and refuse to or are unable to change to the new system. The same applies to the US Customary Units, although they are still the official "weights and measures" system of the United States, set by Congress. As per the Constitution, the official system of weights and measures is set by Congress. It could be changed by majority vote of both houses, but given the fact that all measurement systems are fundamentally arbitrary, and the fact that Congress has far more important things to worry about, and the fact that there is little support to change them, it is unlikely to happen. Scientists and the military, as well as certain government offices use them, and it is standard practice for measurements on US made products, and those made for the US market, to use both.

Almost correct, beer glass sizes in Australia and N.Z. are generally smaller than other countries, I believe this is related to (as I said above) the belief that the beer will go warm in the hot climate but it is also related to the 'Six O'Clock Swill'.

Until the late sixties or early 70s most pubs (hotel public bars) would close at six O'Clock, this was brought about by pressure from the temperance league. Men would finish work at 5 then rush to the pub and down as many beers as possible in the next hour. Smaller glasses were more efficiently poured and emptied. A 7 ounce glass is easily downed in one gulp a 10 in 2 gulps and the bartender could quickly serve many customers. The bartender would fill the glasses using a gun on a hose rather than taking the glass to the tap.

Pubs may carry glasses ranging from 4 Imp fl oz/115 ml to 20 Imp fl oz/570 ml increasing in increments of 1oz between 4oz and 10oz then 12oz 15 oz and 20oz. Most pubs only carry a few of these sizes and depending on the state different sizes are more popular. Until the 1990s generally the most common sizes were 7, 10, and 15 fl oz known as a beer/7, pot and schooner where I'm from but with other names in other states/cities. For example in N.S.W. a 10 oz beer is called a middie and in S.A. it is a schooner. (sometimes 9 oz) and in S.A. a 7 oz is called a butcher.

More recently it is difficult to find a glass under 10 oz except in traditional working mens bars or places frequented by returned servicemen (noted above by Mr Herbert) and 20 oz or pints are becoming popular as younger people are enamoured by British beers and can ponce on about their trip to Europe.

An interesting side note about the Six O'Clock Swill was that until about the same time as it ended women were barred from public bars, I remember as a child that I could go into the bar with my father but my mother couldn't. Female barmaids were alowed however and my uncle owned a pub that employed naked barmaids, this was deemed illegal so the barmaids changed to wearing completely sheer and see-through nighties

Awesome.

I saw that Simpsons episode 2 days ago and it made me think of your post.

Geez, and I thought my Suburban got shitty mileage.......

what's the connection there?

Metric is better for precise math, but the Imperial system is way better to eyeball. It works on halves with is pretty convenient when you don't give a damn within 1/16" or so.

The discussion of beer and the maths is intriguing.

Simply not true, a centimetre is just as easy to eyeball as half an inch, half a centimetre is as easy as a 1/4 inch. 1mm is about the limit for eyeballing and is smaller than 1/16 inch so how convenient and more accurate is that? But 1/32 inch can't be eyeballed. I and most people can easily tell the difference between 9mm 10mm and 11mm by eyeball for example.

In most metric countries the building trade only uses one unit, the millimetre, so there is no converting. You order stock using mm and in some countries you don't even need to mention the unit, so if you want to for example buy a board that is 20mm thick X half a metre wide X 1 metre long it is 20X500X1000 no units stated as mm is standard and implied, no fractions or decimals needed either because when using materials such as timber the mm is a natural limit of precision. Of course in industries that require more precision smaller units are used such as micro/nano/picometer but again you don't need fractions or decimals just choose the appropriate unit of measure it's all whole numbers.