Or in 0.2. Or 0.3.
Or any number of other wacky regional sizes. But mainly 0.2, 0.3 or 0.5.
Most of Germany will sell you beer by the glass either as ‘ein Kleines’ (usually 0.3 or 0.2 if they’re tight or it’s regionally traditional i.e. Cologne) or ‘ein Grosses’ (0.5).
Whole litres is for those barbarians in Bavaria.
There are no time zones; instead, the new time scale of Biel Meantime (BMT) is used, based on the company’s headquarters in Biel, Switzerland. Despite the name, BMT does not refer to mean solar time at the Biel meridian (7°15′E), but to the standard time there.
Grr…
Yes - because French Revolutionaries and socialists (and George Soros, somehow) would make us sell only 5, 10 and 20 packs. So a 5 pack of half liters shared with me and my two friends would mean one person’d get only one beer, which isn’t satisfying, and the others would get two, which is too much. So for the next round we’d have to buy another 5 pack to be fair but even that wouldn’t solve the problem because it still wouldn’t be even.
This is also a good example why scientists and philosophers are not necessarily the best to decide this sort of thing. A second is a natural ‘beat’ but most longer measures are a bit arbitrary. However, decimal time did have some surprising fans according to…
http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Decimal_time.html
Laplace I can understand, but Poincare? He was stiil rooting for decimal time almost up to 1900, when the cost of changing all units that were based on seconds would have been enormous.
I didn’t notice these when I was visiting, should have paid more attention 
I’ve took photos of early metric standards though:
Beer in Australia:
Yes, it’s a little confusing.
That’s all right. The state would ensure that you don’t need to buy beer. You and your friends will be allocated the correct amount of beer for a fraternally convivial evening.
I expect those two guys would be quite annoyed to know what the actual definitions of the yard and pound are.
LOL 18 days.
Or just under two décades
They were busy with a few other things in the brief time they existed:
A good discussion thereof:
From Pratchett & Gaiman’s Good Omens:
NOTE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE AND AMERICANS: One Shilling = Five Pee. It helps to understand the antique finances of the Wichfinder Army if you know the original British monetary system: Two farthings = One Ha’penny. Two ha’pennies = One Penny. Three pennies = A Thrupenny Bit. Two Thrupences = A Sixpence. Two Sixpences = One Shilling, or Bob. Two Bob = A Florin. One Florin and One Sixpence = Half a Crown. Four Half Crowns = Ten Bob Note. Two Ten Bob Notes = One Pound (or 240 pennies). One Pound and One Shilling = One Guinea. The British resisted decimalized currency for a long time because they thought it was too complicated.
And of course a penny wasn’t 1p.
It was 1d.
As it should be.
At the end, a thirsty patron would cry in desperation: " Just give me any beer, please!".
Fun fact: in at least some situations, the Department of Transport assumes that 1 yard = 1 metre.
The principles for the approach signing are:
- a “road works” sign (7001) with supplementary plate “1 mile” (572) placed on the near side
1600 m in advance of the works lead taper;- a “road works” sign (7001) with supplementary plate “800 yds” (572) placed on the near side
800 m in advance of the works lead taper;- a “road works” sign (7001) with supplementary plate “400 yds” (572) placed on the near side
400 m in advance of the works lead taper; and- a “road narrows” sign (517) with supplementary plate “200 yds” (572) placed on the near side
200 m in advance of the works lead taper.
– Department of Transport, Traffic Signs Manual, Chapter 8, Part 1, section D3.42.11. Emphasis added.
Looking at that guidance, it appears to apply throughout. Bonkers.
The English don’t do many things right, but standardizing the legal pour for beer is one thing that the world should emulate. Beer should come in pints, and a pint should be a pint the world over.
Hold up your arm to shoulder height. The distance between your nose and the tip of your fingers is about a meter (or a yard if you prefer). The tip of your little finger is about a centimetre wide. Your brain takes up a volume of about one litre (admittedly that last one isn’t very useful for practical measurements unless you keep a skull handy).
On a related note, if Imperial measurements with their factors of twelve and fourteen are good for dividing stuff up without needing to think, why does the US have a decimalised currency? Surely 120 cents in a dollar would make splitting a bill easier?
Can we just keep the discussion focused on beer, please?
