Talk:International System of Units/Archives/05/2016

Grave contradiction re Ireland

'The situation in Ireland, apart from road signs which were metricated in the early 2000s, is similar to that in the United Kingdom.' - last sentence in 'United Kingdom and the former British Empire'.

No it's not, they have completed the job. See your own statements at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrication#Chronology_and_status_of_conversion_by_country , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrication_in_Ireland and external sources.

Please correct the error yourself, I am not a member. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 200.63.47.32 (talk) 02:55, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Thank you for your comment. Are you saying there are more differences of substances between UK and Ireland than just the road signs, or is Ireland, like UK, a long way from full metrication? If you wish, you are welcome to correct any incorrect or misleading statements yourself. You do not need to be "part of the project" to edit the article(s). Dondervogel 2 (talk) 09:28, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Thank you. What I was saying is that Ireland is almost fully metric, in contrast to Britain, and in contrast to your statement where you put them on the same level, regarding this issue. See the 2 Wiki sources provided (which are near the truth and thus in contradiction to your article), or google for reliable external sources. - I am aware of the fact that I could perform the changes myself, but I would prefer if the author of the original article did it, provided he takes pride in publishing truthful contents. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 104.237.93.46 (talk) 11:41, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

It would help if you can provide examples backed up with citations of situations other than road signs for which Ireland is metric and UK not. Dondervogel 2 (talk) 19:41, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

You're not exactly cooperative, are you? What's wrong with the 2 Wiki sources I gave you that state that, no, Ireland is metrication-wise not in Britain's otchpotch situation (as this article claims) but has successfully finished the job, or at least most of it? - To accomodate your enhanced safety needs, I googled again. Closer examination of the results yielded were less satisfying than my original impression: The tone of the articles is optimistic, like http://www.metric.org.uk/road-signage/international-experience#ireland or http://www.us-metric.org/metrication-in-other-countries/#ireland , but precision-wise, they are wanting. So the most convincing extra-Wiki source would probably be the CIA's factbook, see the foreword at https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/appendix/appendix-g.html , and http://chartsbin.com/view/d12 - again, if your in-house knowledge is not good enough for you to be acceptable, as seems to be the case. .) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 113.29.230.76 (talk) 09:01, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

In what sense uncooperative? I know nothing about metrication in Ireland other than through the links you provide. From them I learn that the UK went metric in 1965 and Ireland two years later, in 1967. I don't see how that supports your claim that Ireland has gone further. The UK has clearly not finished the job, but in what aspect or aspects has Ireland done better, other than road signs? Dondervogel 2 (talk) 14:43, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Road distances and speeds in km/h rather than in mph is quite an achievement, no? I have seen it personally, and it was impressive. But whatever I write, you have a shyster-style response up your sleeve that tries to nullify my argument. I knew there are trolls on the internet, and now I see they also made their way into Wiki. - Regarding the issue and summarising, it appears now that the situation of Ireland reminds of the one in Canada: job basically accomplished, but practically not to the degree desirable, because of bad influence from the bigger neighbour. So Ireland certainly is ahead of Britain, and then it should say so, instead of equating them. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 113.29.230.84 (talk) 04:19, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

I would assume that "apart from road signs, which were metricated in the early 2000s" was intended to cover road distances and speeds. I have added a parenthetical remark to make that clearer. Are you suggesting that we should explicitly state that road distances and speeds apply to more than road signs? Is there, for instance, some (documented) additional conversion of motor vehicles compared with the UK? Are there other documented differences between the UK and Ireland that do not apply to road distances and speeds (as used on road signs)? --Boson (talk) 09:04, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

PS: Apart from road signs (distances and speeds), the following areas come to mind where imperial units may be significant in the UK (at least for some people):

• draught beer and cider (pints rather than litres)
• personal weight and height in everyday (i.e. not scientific/medical) colloquial usage
• non-road distances and lengths in everyday (i.e. not scientific/engineering), colloquial usage
• teaching of conversion between metric and a few imperial units (miles, pounds, pints, ....)
• Imperial units are often given (as supplementary information) on labels, alongside metric units.

Do we need to document differences between the UK and Ireland in these areas?

--Boson (talk) 09:26, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

@anon (ignoring unfounded accusations of poor faith) Yes, metrication of road signs is a commendable achievement; the article could be reworded to place more emphasis on that difference but you seemed to be arguing there were differences not mentioned by the article. Is that what you would like to see? You seemed to be arguing there are other differences, not mentioned in the article

@Boson Yes, I think we should, if there such differences are documented in reliable sources. Our anonymous friend has yet to provide any. Let's start by listing some relevant links: Pint saved as EU allows Ireland and UK to opt out of metric system Ireland’s road signs revisited myths/using-metric