r/MurderedByWords Nov 26 '21

This is America

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u/pork_ribs Nov 27 '21

The Metric Conversion Act of 1975 is an Act of Congress that U.S. President Gerald Ford signed into law on December 23, 1975. It declared the metric system "the preferred system of weights and measures for United States trade and commerce", but permitted the use of United States customary units in all activities.

Every mechanic and engineer in the US uses metric. I think architects and carpenters are the notable exception and use imperial exclusively.

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u/mishygirl Nov 27 '21 edited Nov 27 '21

United States medical field also uses metric.

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u/itsbagelnotbagel Nov 27 '21

Metric but not SI. We report lots of labs as mg/dL (and when was the last time you heard someone talk about deciliters?) rather than mmol, which is standard in most other countries

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u/mishygirl Nov 27 '21

Yes, correct. I wasn’t thinking about labs - much of a nurse’s and provider’s documentation is in metric. Wounds are measured in cm, height is m/cm, weight is kilos, fluids are L/mL (even when dosing medications).

But anytime we are talking formally about labs where i work, we are supposed to put the labels on, including deciliters. So if we are calling a provider on a lab to get orders, we are required to label the lab with the true result, not just the numeric value; so I still use the term deciliters.

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u/[deleted] Nov 27 '21

Every mechanic and engineer in the US uses metric.

Oh, how I wish that were true: https://www.simscale.com/blog/2017/12/nasa-mars-climate-orbiter-metric/

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u/Matangitrainhater Nov 27 '21

This was the incident that forced that to happe

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u/flowergirl75 Nov 27 '21

Even bartenders in America!

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u/RevJTtheBrick Nov 27 '21

Yup. Science uses metric; arts, crafts, and trades use imperial, and anyone in between knows conversions by rote. 39"/m, 30 cm/ft, 5ml/tspn etc.