The UK has a really strange habit of mixing up Imperial and metric measurements, seemingly at random. Often people will use both systems, and have their own personal preferences for when they use each one.
For example, if I was going for a run I’d measure it in kilometres, but if I was talking about a walk I’d just been on then I’d probably say how many miles I went. I order pints from the pub, but measure cooking ingredients in millilitres.
It’s not like we all understand both systems perfectly either. I measure my weight in kilos. My wife measures hers in stones. Neither of us understand the units the other person is using, despite being the same age and having gone through the same education system.
I can imagine people in other countries finding this totally nuts. Why not just pick one system and stick with it?
4 comments
We’re going to vote about things every 3 months.
Whether it’s buying fighter jets for 20 billions or building an amendment for a school, a vote it is baby!
([Technical details](https://www.reddit.com/r/askswitzerland/comments/vdogk8/comment/iclcq44/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) about how that works from an answer to a question asked yesterday in r/askswitzerland.)
To be honest I don’t think your example is bizarre, it’s pretty logical that something like it happens when a country uses a mixed system.
Then again I don’t think that going to sit in a 100 degrees celsius dim room once a week and sometimes continuously hitting yourself or your buddy/family member with tree branches is bizarre, but some people might.
>Why not just pick one system and stick with it?
It is not as if this is arbitrary.
The metric system makes sense and imperial is [irrational folklore](https://cdn.zmescience.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/metric.png)
Congratulating anyone closely, or even moderately, related to someone whose birthday it is. For example, if it’s *your* birthday, it’s very normal for others to say congratulations to your parents, siblings, uncles / aunts, etc.
In addition, forming a circle with chairs at nearly *every* birthday party where your seat is pretty much fixed for the entirety of the party. So, you’re thus forced to talk the whole time with the people to the left and right of you. There’s very little mingling.
Unrelated to birthdays: Often if you’re a guest at someone’s house and it’s edging closer to dinnertime, it’s implied that you need to leave *unless* you were explicitly invited to dinner beforehand. There’s rarely if ever spontaneous, “Hey would you like to stay for dinner?” invites.