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Comment by ubernostrum | Hacker News Reader

And we wish you'd learn that not every Latin-derived word with a long "e" spelled it "oe" or "ae". And that you'd stop insisting on "dual carriageway" as a term for roads that have only ever existed in the age of internal combustion. And that you'd learn what a jumper actually is. And how to pronounce the letter "r". And that you'd understand that if you've "lost a stone" it means a jewel fell out of your ring, not that you're on a diet. And for that matter, that you'd pick a system of weights and measures and stick to it. And that you'd clarify whether there is in fact any type of food in existence that cannot somehow be classed as "pudding".

And... well, shall we go on?

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There's nothing special about dual carriageway. A carriageway is simply a way that is wide enough and smooth enough for a carriage to pass. It's still a useful distinction because cars have the same requirements, but "carway" sounds silly.

The word road comes from the word ride which is still used today to refer to bridleways in Britain (for example, in Hyde Park: the North Ride and the South Ride). Road is therefore a much more general word and is used to refer to many more things than carriageways like railway lines, tunnels and even areas of water near shores.

As for the other stuff, it's true that British and American have both diverged from a common root. The best example is with -ise or -ize endings. Neither is completely correct because some words originally had one and some had the other. The Oxford English Dictionary reflects the original endings in its spellings. But at some point Britain standardised on one and America standardised on the other. Maybe -ise looks nicer but -ize looks cooler? Who knows...

Dual carriageways don’t just carry motorised traffic. Bicycles can legally use them, even though cars will be travelling at up to 70mph. They are distinct to motorways, which also have a maximum speed of 70mph but a minimum speed (in free flowing traffic) of 50mph, making cycling illegal on them.

I've lost the stone. Can you see it? I've looked everywhere and can't find it.

Re weights an measures. We changed it so we wouldn't be doing something different to the rest of entire world.

Puddings are good, why not make everything a pudding? More seriously a pudding used to be a meat based thing (Yorkshire pudding had dripping in) that went sweet. Kind of like why mince pies don't have mince in them.

With the jumper, I assume you would like us to call it a 'sweater'? If its making you sweat, take it off!

I don't know what you're talking about with my r pronunciation. I pronounce my arghs perfectly. I assume you probably pronounce them weirdly though.

America and Britain. Two nations divided by a common language. Winston Churchill.

We are fairly inconsistent about use of metric in general use in the UK - for example: last weekend I drove 79 miles at 60 or 70mph to walk 21km and climb about 900m to go up two hills at about 930m and 940m which I feel compelled to climb as they are more than 3000ft high!

I want to make a comment about not being able to decide whether we are fully adopting European things or not, but I won't.

I think a part of it is that imperial units are human sized and quite useful. A pint of beer is the natural correct unit of measurement. A cm is just a bit too small for a guessed at measure, an inch or foot can be understood to be inaccurate generalisations. Metric equivalents not so much. Road signage is a mess though. Distance: Miles, except shorter distances: Metres. Both shortened to 'm'.

Litre, cm, metre - all are human-size units that are useful. It's easier for me to ad-hoc measure a cable in metres than in feet because the distance between my hand and my opposite shoulder across my chest is about 1 metre. Similarly, a kg of sugar weighs about the same as a litre of milk, and I've been drinking milk from litre cartons all my life. (As a kid in Ireland, there were three main sizes in the shops, 1 pint and 1 litre cartons and 2 litre bottles. 1 pint was always too small for a family of three - you'd run out before it went off.)

I think you're labouring under parochialism of measurement. Grow up under a different system and you'll see there's nothing special or advantageous about the imperial system at all.

I find the imperial system totally confusing - I'd actually prefer if we moved to metric for driving - we've used metric for petrol/diesel volumes for ages.

Hey don't get me wrong, I would rather just have one (metric) system. I grew up with metric in school etc. If I'm measuring something its metric, but if I'm eyeballing something its probably imperial.

I would guess its the origin of the units, I just find it easier to guestimate a foot rather than a metre.

I do not wish to counter with a list of Americanisms that British people find infuriating, as life is short and we might all expire before I was done.

I will note that — unlike in Europe where metrication and SI units have been legal requirements since 1973 and are in wide use outside of the scientific community — America has no agreed upon “system of weights and measures” as you put it, instead considering the adoption of any standard “voluntary”, which makes a farce of the very idea of standardi[s|z]ation[1].

https://gizmodo.com/the-white-house-says-you-can-use-the-met...

Metrication in the US and UK are very similar. The US has an actual federal law on the books declaring metric to be the official system of weights and measures nationwide.

And... we still use a mix of systems, including in "official" things like road signage. In much the same way, Brits still order beer by the pint, read their speedometers in miles per hour, etc. etc.

That's interesting, and the “official but not strongly enforced” feel in the US does sound pretty similar to the UK, just from skimming through https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrication_in_the_United_Stat....

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