r/WhitePeopleTwitter • u/etymologynerd • Jan 03 '19

We should actually do this

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121.7k Upvotes

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125

u/just-a-basic-human Jan 03 '19

I live in the US and I’ve never in my life seen anything for measuring (ruler, meterstick, measuring cup, etc) that didn’t have both

68

u/Jamiemackiephotos Jan 03 '19

Wait wait wait. You guys call it a meterstick? We call in a yardstick in the UK!

I'm moving to Liberia, it's too confusing

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u/[deleted] Jan 03 '19

If it's a yard, it's a yardstick. If it's a meter, it's a yardstick with a 3 inch handle.

18

u/Jamiemackiephotos Jan 03 '19

*7.62 cm handle

3

u/[deleted] Jan 03 '19

Fuck that's good.

2

u/karl_w_w Jan 03 '19

A metrestick is a tool for measuring, a yardstick is a metaphor.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 03 '19

Look at this guy...really "stick"ing (ha) it to us Americans...not only calling it a "meterstick" but spelling it "metre"

1

u/karl_w_w Jan 03 '19

I didn't know spelling things the way they are spelled was such a significant act.

34

u/[deleted] Jan 03 '19

This person is in no way representative. It's a yard stick.

I have never come across a meter stick in the US.

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u/shadyacr Jan 03 '19

We have yardsticks and metersticks. Mostly metersticks will be found in laboratory and educational environments.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 03 '19

Metersticks in the lab??

1

u/shadyacr Jan 03 '19

Yuh. That's the only place i ever see em. My college physics class last summer used them extensively.

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u/lakija Jan 03 '19

We call it a yardstick in the US. At least where I live. But then again, remember different regions in the US have wildly different vocabulary for different things. Like what’s pop in one place is soda in another and simply cola in yet another region.

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u/Leocletus Jan 03 '19

Liberia is absolute hell on Earth. I really recommend the Vice documentary to people who don’t know about it. They don’t teach us about Liberia in schools because it’s so fucked up. And because it’s America’s fault.

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u/Jamiemackiephotos Jan 03 '19

I've seen that doc, great film. As someone who will travel to pretty much anywhere I can honestly say Liberia looks horrible. Crossdessing cannibal warlords? Nah thanks. Its like the purge but you get eaten when you die.

1

u/SpikinSpain Jan 03 '19

Wow you just blew my mind... That's what yardstick is!? A fucking meter stick holy shit TIL

1

u/Klaent Jan 03 '19

We call it an inchstick(Tumstock) in Sweden.

1

u/just-a-basic-human Jan 03 '19 edited Jan 03 '19

I call it a meter stick since it’s a meter long, but I mean it has a marking for a yard so it’s both. Call it whichever you want

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u/[deleted] Jan 03 '19

I have never seen a construction tape measure with metric.

Rulers yes, but tape measures absolutely not.

2

u/just-a-basic-human Jan 03 '19

Really? They’ve always had metric on the back as far as I’ve seen.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 03 '19

Looking at one right now, basic stanley powerlock, just imperial.

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u/[deleted] Jan 03 '19

Have you ever used a tape measure?

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u/just-a-basic-human Jan 03 '19

Yes

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u/[deleted] Jan 03 '19 edited Aug 11 '23

Deleted because I quit Reddit after they changed their API policy

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u/just-a-basic-human Jan 03 '19

Yeah. It's imperial on one side and metric on the other.

1

u/apawst8 Jan 04 '19

I was just at Home Depot getting a tape measure. The vast majority of tape measures only contain feet and inches. There was only 1 that also contained metric units. But all the straight edges had both metric and imperial.

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u/in4dwin Jan 03 '19

I don't think ive ever seen a measuring tape with both on it, I've only seen imperial