Hang on to your Stones and don’t let your Feet become obsolete!
Making the case for keeping customary units like pints, pounds & miles.
Recent Posts
Sean-tomhas na hÉireann — Old Irish measures
With St Patrick's day almost upon us, I thought it would be the perfect time to take a look at the traditional Gaelic units of measure that were once commonly used in Ireland.
Jamaicans “Sticking With Pounds and Gallons”
The Gleaner reports that "most Jamaicans continue to think and operate in pounds and gallons". Is it necessary for this to change? Is fully switching to metric really the right thing?
The Etymology of the Months (in English, Irish, Scot’s Gaelic, Manx and Welsh)
This post describes the origins of the names of the months in the English, Irish, Scot's Gaelic, Manx and Welsh languages.
“Give ’em an inch” episode on BBC’s Word of Mouth
A discussion on customary measures was aired on BBC Radio 4 recently with maths writer Rob Eastway.
Traditional Measures in East Asia
In this post, I will look at some examples of traditional units that are still in use today across eastern parts of Asia, such as China, Korea, Japan and Myanmar.
Barrels of Firkin Hogsheads!
This post details the history & origins of traditional units of volume used by beer & ale breweries, such as the firkin, kilderkin, barrel & hogshead.
Essential reading
Introduction
On a recent trip to the US I noticed that I quite liked using miles while driving and started to ponder our use of imperial units and our conversion to metric. This is my origin story!
Hang on to your Stones!
In this post, I’ll make the case for keeping customary units. Not for everything, but for everyday uses such as in the greengrocer, the butcher, the pub, on the road and so on.
The pros and cons of the metric system
This post looks at the pros and cons of the metric system. While it does have its obvious benefits, it also has its downsides; all of which is discussed here.