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[Two Words]

Why do we have so many different standards in America when the rest of the world seems to have it right? Here are some examples:

Metric vs Imperial.
The metric system is simply better. Feet, inches, miles, yards don't make any sense. They're all at factors of weird numbers like 12 or 3 or 5xxx. Metric system is always on a consistent factor. All factors that distinguish different measurements are powers of 10. It just makes sense and makes it much easier to convert measurements.

Same thing is true for weight. Onces and pounds make no sense. Neither does cups or pints or quarters or gallons. Millimeters is the most accurate and consistent measurement for fluids.

Celsius vs Farenheit.
Celcius centers itself around the freezing and boiling point of water. Makes sense considering how we use temperature on a daily basis. Farenheit is based on what? It just seems like a random scale to measure heat.

Date.
Most of the world does a day/month/year method for the date. It is consistent. Days are smaller than months are smaller than years. But in America we do month/day/year. Why? Who knows?! Just cuz, apparently.

Sports.
Why do we call it soccer and the rest of the world calls it football? The sport is entirely played with your feet. Instead we call a sport football that has 99% nothing to do with anything with your feet and ball being related together. We should have called soccer football and we should have called football "blitzball" or something like it.


What are some other people examples of our pointless American oddities?

 

[freenudemacusers]

it's everyone else who is different

 

[akira28]

Because it is also stupid to be the same. That's how we got Hitler.

 

[GameGuru59]

Because we say so. And we're the greatest nation on earth. And we have the most money.

 

[ItWasMeantToBe19]

I do like the argument for Fahrenheit of "100 means it's really fucking hot, 0 means its really fucking cold in Fahrenheit. In Celsius, 0 means it's pretty cold and 100 means you're dead so it's not as useful as a guide in day to day life."

Others, sure, whatever.

 

[Mental Atrophy]

Date.
Most of the world does a day/month/year method for the date. It is consistent. Days are smaller than months are smaller than years. But in America we do month/day/year. Why? Who knows?! Just cuz, apparently.

Year, Month, Day. Do it and join the good guys.

 

[blame space]

🗽

 

[loaf of bread]

How bout randomly changing the spellings of stuff like realise to realize or theatre to theater. Why.

 

[Vermillion]

Because we say so. And we're the greatest nation on earth. And we have the most money.

Cash.

 

[kswiston]

Celsius vs Farenheit.
Celcius centers itself around the freezing and boiling point of water. Makes sense considering how we use temperature on a daily basis. Farenheit is based on what? It just seems like a random scale to measure heat.

Farenheit was originally based on the lowest temperature that brine could be cooled to (at 0) and the average temperature of the human body (at 100)

Now it is based on the freezing point and boiling point of water (at 32 and 212 degrees), same as the Celsius scale.

 

[Currygan]

because how could you be the greatest nation without a bunch of unique things to differentiate yourself from the useless rest of the world?

 

[Monocle]

We have to preserve our American exceptionalism.

 

[ItAintEasyBeinCheesy]

How bout randomly changing the spellings of stuff like realise to realize or theatre to theater. Why.

What's a theat and why do I want more of it.

 

[Branduil]

I do like the argument for Fahrenheit of "100 means it's really fucking hot, 0 means its really fucking cold in Fahrenheit. In Celsius, 0 means it's pretty cold and 100 means you're dead so it's not as useful as a guide in day to day life."

Others, sure, whatever.

Apparently 100 degrees Fahrenheit was originally supposed to correspond to human body temperature but he screwed it up.

 

[Mammoth Jones]

Who the fuck decided it's stupid to be different? Holy shit.

 

[woolley]

I'm fine with imperial system, I don't measure huge numbers on a daily basis so the factors don't really matter to me. 12 inches in a foot, 3 feet in a yard, not really complicated stuff.

And Fahrenheit works way better for day to day telling of the temperature for the weather than Celsius.

 

[Delta Assault]

How bout randomly changing the spellings of stuff like realise to realize or theatre to theater. Why.

Theater sounds like how you pronounce it. Nobody pronounces it thea-tree.

 

[Krejlooc]

Sports.
Why do we call it soccer and the rest of the world calls it football? The sport is entirely played with your feet. Instead we call a sport football that has 99% nothing to do with anything with your feet and ball being related together. We should have called soccer football and we should have called football "blitzball" or something like it.

We didn't come up with the name "Soccer." Soccer is actually a slang term for the real name of the sport, "Association Football." People around the world still use the term, although it's obviously fallen out of favor.

The term "football" doesn't mean what you think it means. Football is an antiquated term that refers to a working-class sports game. They are games you play on your foot, as opposed to the games nobility played, like Polo. "Football" as a term is synonomous with "sports." Baseball is a football game, hockey is a football game. Ironically enough, even basketball is a football game. We really didn't name our sport "football," it was more like an unnamed college sport, and all sports were called "football." As the practice diminished, the name stuck for that sport. The real name for the sport is "Gridiron Football."

 

[freenudemacusers]

Who the fuck decided it's stupid to be different? Holy shit.

transnational ameriphobes, that's who

 

[Branduil]

How bout randomly changing the spellings of stuff like realise to realize or theatre to theater. Why.

Changing theatre to theater isn't random, it actually makes sense considering the pronunciation of the word. Same thing with realize and all the extraneous British u's.

 

[Dmented]

I do like the argument for Fahrenheit of "100 means it's really fucking hot, 0 means its really fucking cold in Fahrenheit. In Celsius, 0 means it's pretty cold and 100 means you're dead so it's not as useful as a guide in day to day life."

Others, sure, whatever.

This. Fahrenheit just makes sense to everyday life. I agree with the others though.

 

[CaptainGyro]

everything makes sense enough to me so i dont know what you're talking about

 

[Two Words]

Who the fuck decided it's stupid to be different? Holy shit.

It's stupid to be different when the system you are choosing to diverge from makes sense and the alternative one doesn't. Did you even read the OP?

 

[WillyFive]

Who the fuck decided it's stupid to be different? Holy shit.

That's not really the argument. These American standards are not just different, they are remarkably illogical and unintuitive.

 

[Laevateinn]

As an American who's in a scientific field, imperial system of measurement makes no sense to me. I've gotten strange looks from stores because I'll say things like "I need about a meter of that".

I can live with fahrenheit though.

I've also always spelled it theatre.

 

[breadtruck]

Date.
Most of the world does a day/month/year method for the date. It is consistent. Days are smaller than months are smaller than years. But in America we do month/day/year. Why? Who knows?! Just cuz, apparently.

Sports.
Why do we call it soccer and the rest of the world calls it football? The sport is entirely played with your feet. Instead we call a sport football that has 99% nothing to do with anything with your feet and ball being related together. We should have called soccer football and we should have called football "blitzball" or something like it.

You had me until this point. I like dates as they are written.

And Soccer is an acceptable name for the sport. We didnt make up that name for the sport, it was there long before.

 

[Dishwalla]

I don't like Celsius. When it's 35 degrees out that's supposed to mean it's fucking cold, not that it's manageable let alone hot out.

And putting unnecessary u's in words like color is just goofy.

 

[Stumpokapow]

Who the fuck decided it's stupid to be different? Holy shit.

In coordination games, coordinating is strictly preferable to not coordinating, regardless of which choice you make.

 

[Ionic]

How bout randomly changing the spellings of stuff like realise to realize or theatre to theater. Why.

With all the stupid stuff us Americans keep around like the imperial measurement system, spelling changes are one of the better things we've done. Colour looks stupid. Theatre is just silly.

 

[Reeks]

Same thing is true for weight. Onces and pounds make no sense. Neither does cups or pints or quarters or gallons. Millimeters is the most accurate and consistent measurement for fluids.

What about stones? The US isn't the only country with other measurements of weight

Celsius vs Farenheit.
Celcius centers itself around the freezing and boiling point of water. Makes sense considering how we use temperature on a daily basis. Farenheit is based on what? It just seems like a random scale to measure heat.

This predates the US. It's based off of the properties of mercury.

Date.
Most of the world does a day/month/year method for the date. It is consistent. Days are smaller than months are smaller than years. But in America we do month/day/year. Why? Who knows?! Just cuz, apparently.

In America it's day/month/year.

 

[Two Words]

You had me until this point. I like dates as they are written.

And Soccer is an acceptable name for the sport. We didnt make up that name for the sport, it was there long before.

Every other place does day/month/year and it just makes looking at international stuff more confusing.

 

[Dennis]

Reporting nutrition information relative to 'serving' instead of fixed 100 grams.

What the fuck is a serving of fish? Or a serving of potato? It is fucking arbitrary!

 

[Delta Assault]

That's not really the argument. These American standards are not just different, they are remarkably illogical and unintuitive.

June 13, 2015 = 06/13/2015

How illogical. How unintuitive.

 

[Gray Matter]

I personally like the month/day/year date format... It just makes sense.

 

[freenudemacusers]

Reporting nutrition information relative to 'serving' instead of fixed 100 grams.

What the fuck is a serving of fish? Or a serving of potato? It is fucking arbitrary!

when your stomach starts to hurt that's half an american serving

 

[Dishwalla]

Also until The Daily Show changes from the month/day/year format, our date format will never be wrong.

 

[Dennis]

0 degrees Celsius - water freezes

100 degrees Celsius - water boils


It is beautiful, logical and European!

 

[Two Words]

June 13, 2015 = 06/13/2015

How illogical. How unintuitive.

Other countries report the date as 13 June, 2015.

 

[SwiftDeath]

Speed limits are imperial

Why do you want to kill us all OP?

I'd compromise with the UK's system though, everything else can be in metric

Every other place does day/month/year and it just makes looking at international stuff more confusing.

Almost 1.4 Billion people do the date Year, Month, Day though

 

[Monocle]

June 13, 2015 = 06/13/2015

How illogical. How unintuitive.

OK but what are your thoughts on the metric system?

 

[Two Words]

Reporting nutrition information relative to 'serving' instead of fixed 100 grams.

What the fuck is a serving of fish? Or a serving of potato? It is fucking arbitrary!

Yeah I hate serving sizes. They're just a bullshit method of making food appear healthier than it is. Can do doesn't seem too bad until you realize they expect a small bag to be 4 servings.

 

[Gallbaro]

Date.
Most of the world does a day/month/year method for the date. It is consistent. Days are smaller than months are smaller than years. But in America we do month/day/year. Why? Who knows?! Just cuz, apparently.

Every fucking one has it wrong.

yyyy-MM-dd

 

[Branduil]

Reporting nutrition information relative to 'serving' instead of fixed 100 grams.

What the fuck is a serving of fish? Or a serving of potato? It is fucking arbitrary!

This actually isn't bad, as long as the serving size is easy to distinguish. How do you know when you've eaten 100 grams of something?

 

[Lashley]

Sports.
Why do we call it soccer and the rest of the world calls it football? The sport is entirely played with your feet. Instead we call a sport football that has 99% nothing to do with anything with your feet and ball being related together. We should have called soccer football and we should have called football "blitzball" or something like it.


What are some other people examples of our pointless American oddities?

I'm from the UK and tbf a lot of other countries call it soccer. Those who get annoyed from this are usually sad and lonely.

As for the metric system and your date system, no excuse guys.

 

[GameGuru59]

This. Fahrenheit just makes sense to everyday life. I agree with the others though.

You could argue the same for lengths. Maybe it's because I'm more familiar with it, but an inch and a foot are much more discernible in everyday life than centimeters and meters. They're much more relevant to describe the size of things.

 

[WillyFive]

June 13, 2015 = 06/13/2015

How illogical. How unintuitive.

That's because you grew up with it. But just look at the very phrase June 13, 2015....what is up with that? How did we get to that phrasing? If we didn't know that June was a month and that 2015 was a year, it might as well be a password or some cryptic code. If we heard it out loud, it would seem like June Thirteen was a person.

 

[Two Words]

Every fucking one has it wrong.

yyyy-MM-dd

That is also acceptable. It is at least consistent.

 

[numble]

Every other place does day/month/year and it just makes looking at international stuff more confusing.

China, 1/6 of the world, uses month/day/year, so I don't know why you think "every other place" uses that format.

 

[Branduil]

Every fucking one has it wrong.

yyyy-MM-dd

Japan does it like this.

 

[Two Words]

China, 1/6 of the world, uses month/day/year, so I don't know why you think "every other place" uses that format.

I don't literally mean every single place.