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UK: Petrol's not *that* expensive

Nermal

Nermal

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Original poster
Staff member
Dec 7, 2002
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5,333
New Zealand
We have a new guy at work, he's come over from England (Essex to be specific, although he worked in London) and today he told us that petrol was around £5/litre over there. We simply could not believe that, because it's nearly 10 times what we pay here, so after he'd gone I looked around on a few websites and found it hovering around £0.90-£1.20.

Does anyone have any idea where he got that £5 figure from? :confused:
 
Nermal said:
We have a new guy at work, he's come over from England (Essex to be specific, although he worked in London) and today he told us that petrol was around £5/litre over there. We simply could not believe that, because it's nearly 10 times what we pay here, so after he'd gone I looked around on a few websites and found it hovering around £0.90-£1.20.

Does anyone have any idea where he got that £5 figure from? :confused:
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A fiver a gallon maybe?
 
Ah, that'd explain it, although I'm surprised he didn't pick that up after we stared in disbelief. On the other hand, he's amazed at how cheap everything is here.
 
Why would an Englishman use "gallon"??

I think he might be a secret agent - neither the UK nor NZ uses "gallon" as a unit of measurement.
 
Chundles said:
Why would an Englishman use "gallon"??

I think he might be a secret agent - neither the UK nor NZ uses "gallon" as a unit of measurement.
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We used to use gallons until some time in the 80s, I think, then someone in the EU told us we weren't allowed to use them anymore.
 
Chundles said:
Why would an Englishman use "gallon"??

I think he might be a secret agent - neither the UK nor NZ uses "gallon" as a unit of measurement.
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Some young English people still use the Imperial measurements as a bolster for their Englishness. Purely a reaction against the EU. All it means is that nobody under the age of 35 has a clue what they are talking about.

I couldn't even tell you with any certainty how many ounces in a pound, how many pounds in a stone, or what the Fahrenheit scale numbers mean. It's as pointless an exercise as pricing things like "one pound seven and sixpence".
 
dynamicv said:
I couldn't even tell you with any certainty how many ounces in a pound, how many pounds in a stone, or what the Fahrenheit scale numbers mean. It's as pointless an exercise as pricing things like "one pound seven and sixpence".
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16. 16 again (I think. We don't use stone over here). Water freezes/ice melts at 32, water boils at 212, normal body temp is around 98.7-ish. And I have no ****ing clue.
 
You see how confusing it is? And that's not even adding in the stuff I do know like 12 inches in a foot, 3 feet in a yard, 22 yards in a chain, 80 chains in a mile, and 3 miiles in a league :confused: :confused:

Totally ridiculous numbering system. Much better just basing everything on units of 10. Why the UKIP types justify holding onto that nonsense for the sake of nostalgia is beyond belief.
 
Some people are just resistant to change - some people in Ireland still talk about punts (Irish currency before the Euro) and some even talk about pounds (Irish currency before independence - 1922!!!)

And most English speaking countries seem to measure fuel efficiency in cars in miles per gallon (except Americans who measure in gallons per mile ;) :) )


And don't get me started about acres roods and perches (bane of my f***ing life)
 
dynamicv said:
Some young English people still use the Imperial measurements as a bolster for their Englishness. Purely a reaction against the EU. All it means is that nobody under the age of 35 has a clue what they are talking about.
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This guy can't be any older than 30.
 
Nermal said:
Ah, that'd explain it, although I'm surprised he didn't pick that up after we stared in disbelief. On the other hand, he's amazed at how cheap everything is here.
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Cheap if you're using sterling, ask him in 6 months when he's used to the prices and earning dollars. He may not think prices are quote so low.
 
well the US standard system works well in the way that most people in the US knows how long or how much each of the basic units are.

Out side of that I really dont like the US standard. It is great for estimation things just because I know pretty close to how long or how much each of the basic units are (inch, foot, mile, cup, gallon and lb) But when it comes to to appling math to them and I have to change units I start really hating the US standard.
it ot bad enough when I have to just convert basic lenths from one unit to another but when it starts getting to area volume and things like that(which will be in^3 to Ft^3 or something like that) it is another story completely. A lot easier to make stupid error. The one i have the most trouble with is when I am in ft^4 and need to convert to in^4. Always make a stupid mistake there every time. An ME or CE major should understand why I would be spending time in in^4 or ft^4 those cals are just annoying to begin with and when you put in any unit changes of any type they start getting really messy.
 
j26 said:
But where does the Bakers dozen come in?
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Comes from when bakers were fined heavily for selling underweight "dozens" of bread. It was cheaper to throw in a 13th bread roll than to risk a fine. Hence the "baker's dozen."
 
mpw said:
11" to a foot here! A 12" foot is refered to as a Royal Foot.
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So getting a wooden ruler to the bum in school in Jersey would just be a "Pain in the A*se" but getting six of the best with a 12" ruler would be a "Royal Pain in the A*se?"
 
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