Not my decision, but I was involved...
When I was a mere slip of a lad, maybe 13 or 14, I went on a summer "Outward Bound" camping week with my school. This was in the Sussex countryside, and we did all the usual things: climbing, canoeing, orienteering and so on. One night, we did night maneouvres - orienteering in the dark.

Now I freely admit that, as team leader, I cocked up and we got rather lost. It was a misty night, and we were a little way from where we should have been. Perhaps half a kilometre or so, nothing major. But this was a mistake that nearly cost us dearly, as we only noticed the edge when we were about a metre from it.

The edge. As in the edge of Beachy Head. A rather well-known 162 metre high cliff. That's 530 ft (for the Merkins) of sheer, ball-shrinkingly terrifying verticality.

What the FESTERING LEFT-HANDED WANK were they thinking, sending a bunch of kids out on night manoeuvres, in poor visibility, on BEACHY FUCKING HEAD????

.
(moon monkey is busy making memories worth repressing, Wed 29 Sep 2010, 17:25, 5 replies)

errrr
natural selection?
(johnners hitting things with hammers until they work, Wed 29 Sep 2010, 18:24, closed)

Dropping a hint?

( idonthaveafunnynickname Drink-Aware? Sure. I'm aware I want another drink., Wed 29 Sep 2010, 19:03, closed)

Erm, with reference to the 'merkins.
Are we not still on Imperial measurements her in the UK?

So, should it not read "... A rather well-known 530ft high cliff. That's 162 metre (for the Continentals)..."
(SatchmoR No, mummy, don't put knitting needles in my ears!, Thu 30 Sep 2010, 10:07, closed)

No
Next time you have an Ordnance Survey map to hand, take a proper look.
(Vice Admiral Sir Charles Cockbrush KCB MBE DSO, who is finding it increasingly difficult to log into b3ta.com wants to duck your aunt and kick your puppy, Thu 30 Sep 2010, 11:12, closed)

To be slightly more accurate
We're almost totally metric in this country, with the exception of road signage (though even the small distance markers on motorways are in kilometres), draught beer and a couple of other oddities.

Of course there's nothing to stop you talking about yards and pounds and gallons etc., though you do run the risk of sounding like a Daily Mail reader.
(Vice Admiral Sir Charles Cockbrush KCB MBE DSO, who is finding it increasingly difficult to log into b3ta.com wants to duck your aunt and kick your puppy, Thu 30 Sep 2010, 11:16, closed)