Should the US abide by the Convention on Road Signs and Signals?

[skluth]

Just some small additions so Fahrenheit users can check it out. And  inevitable special point:

-40°C =  -40°F : at -40 it doesn't matter any more!

I don't really use Celsius temperatures, even when I'm in Mexico.  However, I have at least learned to tie them to the real world.  Here's my system:

  -20°C = -4°F: As cold as it gets around here most years.

  -10°C = 14 °F: Below this temperature, being outdoors is unpleasant, no matter how much clothing I put on.

  0°C = 32°F Freezing point.

  10°C = 50°F Below this temperature, don't leave the windows open overnight.

  20°C = 68°F The bottom limit of room temperature. (maybe a bit too pessimistic. K.)

  30°C = 86°F Above this temperature, outdoor activity is hot and sweaty.

  40°C = 104°F: As hot as it usually gets around here.

Yup. At -40 and below, you don't want to be outside regardless of scale. I'll add 50°C = 122°F which is as hot as Palm Springs gets almost every summer (though not last summer).

[1995hoo]

There's a poem I heard somewhere that makes Celsius easy as a general matter:

"0 is freezing; 10 is not. 20 is pleasant; 30 is hot."

While I might quibble with whether 30 is really "hot," I do agree with kphoger's characterization that above that temperature, outdoor activity quickly becomes hot and sweaty, especially if you live in an area that often has high humidity.

[mgk920]

Ah geez, what was I thinking when I said it would be useless for measuring 250 ml?  Yes, of course that would be easy.  But what about 15 ml or 5 ml?  How do you measure that with metric kitchen equipment?

And, even if there's an answer, what would be the benefit to switching?

Based on half-remembered Food Network shows, I believe many dry ingredients we measure by volume they measure by weight over there. So you wouldn't measure out a cup of brown sugar, you'd measure out so many grams of it. Measuring by weight is generally more accurate because grams are fairly small, so they're precise, and if you're using a digital scale it's much easier to hit an exact number like 375 g than it is to get an accurate volume measure by eyeballing mL lines.

I am not sure if the same is true of liquid measures. I suppose there's no real reason you couldn't weigh out so many grams of milk.

Dry ingredients are measured by weight because their volume can change based on how they're handled.

Mike

[SD Mapman]

What confuses me is when a recipe calls for a unit that does not match the units in which things are sold at the store–for example, x cups of cream, or y cups of milk, or whatever.

Yes.  If the recipe calls for two cups of tomato purée, and the store has 10.75-ounce cans, then who the heck knows–without googling it–if you need to buy one can or two?

This is how we end up with plastic-wrapped half-used cans of tomato sauce in the fridge.

[J N Winkler]

The transatlantic differences in baking and cooking also include butter (not strictly a dry ingredient) being quoted by mass rather than volume, and metal baking dishes being far more prevalent than glass.  Ingredients are often formulated differently and not necessarily available under the same names if at all.  As an example, British brown sugar is consistently darker than the American kind, due to higher molasses content; I often substituted demerara sugar, which is coarser in texture and not easy to find here.

I simply accepted that I would have to think in terms of tolerances and be prepared to do conversions based on density.  Everything I fixed came out edible, though there were minor differences in flavor and moistness.

[pderocco]

Gee, I read page 1 of this thread, and then read page 4, and everyone is still talking about temperature measurements. Did I miss anything good?

[TXtoNJ]

Just some small additions so Fahrenheit users can check it out. And  inevitable special point:

-40°C =  -40°F : at -40 it doesn't matter any more!

I don't really use Celsius temperatures, even when I'm in Mexico.  However, I have at least learned to tie them to the real world.  Here's my system:

  -20°C = -4°F: As cold as it gets around here most years.

  -10°C = 14 °F: Below this temperature, being outdoors is unpleasant, no matter how much clothing I put on.

  0°C = 32°F Freezing point.

  10°C = 50°F Below this temperature, don't leave the windows open overnight.

  20°C = 68°F The bottom limit of room temperature. (maybe a bit too pessimistic. K.)

  30°C = 86°F Above this temperature, outdoor activity is hot and sweaty.

  40°C = 104°F: As hot as it usually gets around here.

Yup. At -40 and below, you don't want to be outside regardless of scale. I'll add 50°C = 122°F which is as hot as Palm Springs gets almost every summer (though not last summer).

The nice thing about Celsius is that the general range of temperatures on earth is about -50 to 50, with freezing right in the middle.

[kphoger]

The nice thing about Celsius is that the general range of temperatures on earth is about -50 to 50, with freezing right in the middle.

That doesn't necessarily make it more useful or conventient.  My opinions about customary/metric units are based on how easy they are to use in the real world in my everyday life.  And, honestly, when it comes to that, neither one has any real advantage for temperature.

[J N Winkler]

Gee, I read page 1 of this thread, and then read page 4, and everyone is still talking about temperature measurements. Did I miss anything good?

Not really.  (I'm a little surprised by this drift toward metric versus customary/imperial measures, since there is one Vienna adherent--Britain--that still uses imperial units on signs, and the convention itself is agnostic as to units system.)

[kphoger]

It all started with |Rothman|.

We'll use their signs if they get off the metric system.

[Rothman]

It all started with |Rothman|.

We'll use their signs if they get off the metric system.

*blinks innocently*

[kalvado]

Gee, I read page 1 of this thread, and then read page 4, and everyone is still talking about temperature measurements. Did I miss anything good?

Not really.  (I'm a little surprised by this drift toward metric versus customary/imperial measures, since there is one Vienna adherent--Britain--that still uses imperial units on signs, and the convention itself is agnostic as to units system.)

On the other hand, Canada is mostly MUTCD and metric.
And I wonder if there is any correlation between mains voltage and style of traffic signs...

[skluth]

It all started with |Rothman|.

We'll use their signs if they get off the metric system.

*blinks innocently*

Far more interesting and challenging would be forcing all Europe go to 60 hz AC electricity.