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> ... the UK uses yards to measure distances shorter than a few kilometers.

For the record, in the UK, and indeed most metric / english-speaking countries, it'll be metres (and kilometres).

A metre is the ISO unit for distance.

A meter is a device to measure things (not just distances).



For the actual record, in the UK distances are measured in miles. This can be seen on road signage.

Speeds are measured in miles per hour. This can be seen when driving a car, and also on road signage.

It's basically a mix. Yards are not really used outside really by people, but you will find feet and inches being used (alongside metres and centimetres) often in commercial settings.

Other examples of finding both things in the wild in use by people and companies in the UK: pints and litres. pounds and kilograms


I think Jedd was commenting on the spelling of "meter" vs "metre".


In the UK colloquial units are weird.

Some units are imperial

  People's height in Feet
  People's weight in Stones+Pounds
  Beer in Pints (proper pints, not american tiny-pints)
  Roads in Miles
Others are metric

  Temperature in C
  Milk in Litres
  Petrol in litres, but we also use miles/gallon
  Food in grams from shops, but oz when buying steak at a pub
  Bottles and Cans in ml
Road distances on signs do tend to be yards rather than metres. Areas are often in acres, or square metres.


Milk is in pints. Some are sold in litres because you get less but it kind of looks the same: 1L < 2 pints. But people generally talk about milk in pints.


Most people get milk from the supermarket. The milk bottles in my fridge is 2L, it also comes in 3L, 1L and 500ml

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/shop/fresh-food/milk-b...

18 of the first 24 are in litres.


The supermarket branded milk that everyone actually buys is always in pints though. All of this filtered, UHT, skimmed business falls into the "things that aren't plain old milk" category




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