@EdwinG

Long distance = time!

A few years back, a British couple at a gas station near Kingston asked me "how far is it to Montreal (or Toronto, I can't remember)?"

I responded, as you do, 3 hours or whatever. They looked at me as if I was crazy. I went inside to pay for the gas, and when I came out, they were asking someone else the same question. I presume they got the same answer. 😁🤣

@katemorley

@BackFromTheDud @katemorley The misplaced full stop makes it look like a track listing.

"Pounds to the stone" is a great name for a song. Bonus if it's track 14 on the album, too.

@wjt @katemorley

We're not allowed to call it plant milk any more

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/feb/11/oatly-banned-from-using-word-milk-to-market-plant-based-products-in-uk

@flipper @katemorley Nobody uses furlongs in day-to-day speech. The closely related acres, on the other hand…

I believe railways are still measured in chains, though.

@radekcrlik @katemorley

1st = 6,35 kg , or 14 pounds 🤷

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_(unit)

@StarkRG @katemorley Lengths of timber are usually “metric feet” - multiples of 300mm. E.g, 2400, 2700, 3000 or 4200mm, just as often written in metres so 4.2m, etc. Building sites these days are usually laid out on a 600mm grid. Joists and rafters are typically spaced at 400mm or 600mm centres.

Dimensions in inches (like 2-by4) are the rough-sawn pre-planed dimensions. Planed dimensions are given in millimetres so 2x4 might be something like 47x100mm. I've been confused for a while about why some is 45mm and some 47mm.

Sheet goods (like plywood) are referred to colloquially as “8x4” but that can be either 2400x1200 mm or actual 8'x4': 2440x1220mm. If you really care you have to be specific.

Thicknesses of ply, OSB, etc, are done in mm but they're rounded versions of the old inch dimensions so typically 6, 11, 15, 19mm and so on.

As with timber dimensions, plumbing goods use inches and mm in different ways. E.g., a ½" pipe is 15mm because the ½" references the inside diameter whereas the 15mm is the outside diameter. Plastic pipe (with its thicker wall thickness) breaks the assumptions here so «½"» plastic pipe has an outside diameter of 15mm but an inside diameter considerably less than ½".