So what do you call a 2x4?

Doc · Apr 26, 2006

Vin's post in another thread made me think of what names other countries apply to common items here in the US.

Vin said:
Dave, I cant' beleive myself, things rub off hanging around here. I said gas, next i will be ordering 2x4 or 6x4 sheets Oh no and just the other day I said to someone something about hurricane Monica instead of cyclone Monica, I was promtly told i should go to the US to live.

So Vin,
Knowing you use metric what is a 2x4 to you? How about building a wall, how far apart do you put your studs. 16 inch on center is the norm here.
And how about a 4 ft x 8 ft piece of plywood ....what would you call that in Aussie_land?

How about you folks in England and anywhere else ...chime in and tell us what you call em also.

Mith · Apr 26, 2006

2x4, smae as you
4x8 sheets, or just 'a sheet', any bigger and its a 'big sheet' (size specified in millimetres, any smaller and its 'offcut' (size specified by waving arms, while saying 'about yay big')
Studs are put in 'about that far' apart, but would be specified in millimetres, or inches, dependig on how old the boss is.

Vin is right, since being here I now say hood and fender and a couple other things. I say juice not gas though.

jwstewar · Apr 26, 2006

Vin is right, since being here I now say hood and fender

So what did you call them before?

Jim

Spiffy1 · Apr 26, 2006

Originally Posted by Vin
Dave, I cant' beleive myself, things rub off hanging around here. I said gas, next i will be ordering 2x4 or 6x4 sheets Oh no and just the other day I said to someone something about hurricane Monica instead of cyclone Monica, I was promtly told i should go to the US to live.

Cyclone? For some reason, I thought it was a "willy-willy" south of the equator.

Around here, the former would get you an ice-cream treat; the latter: probably just funny looks, though potentially a childish prank, or pedophile charges.

Mith · Apr 26, 2006

Jim, bonnet and mudguards/side panel/bumper (depending on what kinda car)

BoneheadNW · Apr 26, 2006

That's funny, since being here I have started to yell, "Chocks away, mate!" and "Bloody" this and "Bloody" that; I've been making alot of faggot comments when looking at meatballs; fries are now bangers, boats are vessels; I have been listening to more reggae and dancing around like Mick Jagger at work; I now yell "Ello miss!" when I come home from work; and finally, I have been tempted to drop a V8 engine into my lawn tractor, put duellies on it, and haul ass in the mud after injuring myself welding large pieces of scrap metal together.

Bonehead

daedong · Apr 26, 2006

I was educated with imperial; absolutely every aspect of life was imperial as a young child, even our money. By the time I left school most things had started to be changed over to metric.
On reading so many threads from Americans on the topic of conversion I just shake my head in disbelief. USA in my view appears to be making conversion to metric a complicated tough road. I here exactly the same arguments against conversion that I heard back in 1966 when we first started to change. It took about 10-15 years to be phased in and in hindsight it would have been better done quicker.

Bob mentioned the other day that beverages are labeled in metric, and I do believe that drugs are measured in the metric system; your money is metric based. This mixture must make life more complicated.

2x8 becomes 50x200, an 8x4 sheet 1200x2400(twelve hundred by twenty four hundred) or 1.2 x2.4

Stud sizes spacing vary depending on application but are generally 600mm centers, wet areas 450mm.

One that did take some difficulty getting the head around but it comes eventually was MPG to litres per 100 km. But today I have to think about MPG

I will again read the same rhetoric again in this thread probably, but believe me its much easier. Even if you struggle with the change your kids will love you for it. I would not go back for all the tea in China.
One more to think about, how much rain was in your gauge this morning.

daedong · Apr 26, 2006

BoneheadNW said:
That's funny, since being here I have started to yell, "Chocks away, mate!" and "Bloody" this and "Bloody" that; I've been making alot of faggot comments when looking at meatballs; fries are now bangers, boats are vessels; I have been listening to more reggae and dancing around like Mick Jagger at work; I now yell "Ello miss!" when I come home from work; and finally, I have been tempted to drop a V8 engine into my lawn tractor, put duellies on it, and haul ass in the mud after injuring myself welding large pieces of scrap metal together.
Bonehead

Vessel

not common for small boats, Its simply a bloody tinny mate.

DaveNay · Apr 26, 2006

Personally, I like using a 96" x 4"....2" long.

Mith · Apr 27, 2006

Bone

Though bangers are sausages, fries are chips (though those puffie things you get down McDonalds are fries, but the real potato things you get at the chippie are chips)

Do you guys use words like bodge? (to build quickly with substandard methods)

Good on the reggae, you on the Steel Pulse yet? :yum:

daedong · Apr 27, 2006

DaveNay said:
Personally, I like using a 96" x 4"....2" long.

Jim Everything I do is bodgie, i wired up the boot on the car the other day with 2mm wire, because the missus backed into a stobie pole at the footy. I got a good mind now to cut the bloody boot off and make a ute out of it.

AndyM · Apr 27, 2006

daedong said:
Jim Everything I do is bodgie, i wired up the boot on the car the other day with 2mm wire, because the missus backed into a stobie pole at the footy. I got a good mind now to cut the bloody boot off and make a ute out of it.

What are you guys talking about??? Speak English so the rest of us can understand!

daedong · Apr 27, 2006

Here is a few commonly used words without cheating can you work them out.

rort
Cactus
not my cup of tea
Cab Sav
Chook
Cleanskin
Dob
Dux
Furphy
Mappa Tassie
Porky
Shonky
fortnight

Mith · Apr 27, 2006

Chunder
Barbie
Fizzy tea
Postie
Fair play
Skint
Rollie
Stung
Fudge up

Vin, reckon I got most of yours, couple stuck me though
Fair play on the boot. Reckon with wire/rope, duct tape and cable ties you can do most anything

Doc · Apr 27, 2006

Mith said:
2x4, smae as you
4x8 sheets, or just 'a sheet', any bigger and its a 'big sheet' (size specified in millimetres, any smaller and its 'offcut' (size specified by waving arms, while saying 'about yay big')
Studs are put in 'about that far' apart, but would be specified in millimetres, or inches, dependig on how old the boss is.

Vin is right, since being here I now say hood and fender and a couple other things. I say juice not gas though.

So ...you guys use inches also? That surprises me.

Mith · Apr 27, 2006

Doc, inches are used for some things, order a 2x4 and youll get one, order 50x100 and youll get it too. Steel comes metric but can be ordered imperial.

Personally I use imperial as most the tractors I have are American, so its all based on that.
If it werent for imperial American stuff, we would be totally metric. Most trades and people use metric, except those that work with stuff from the USA.

daedong · Apr 27, 2006

Mith

I like doc was unaware that you had not changed completely, I just done a quick search and found this interesting UK site on the topic. http://www.metric.org.uk/home.htm
This page also talks about your conversion, and compares it to Australia’s
http://www.metric.org.uk/press/ausvuk.htm

What do they teach in schools in the UK?

In my initial post I said metric conversion started in 1966 this UK site says 1970. It is correct, but in Feb. 1966 we converted to decimal currency

Pigtails · Apr 27, 2006

Hmmm.. Here's what I thought you wanted to know about..............

Vehicle Details
2005 GMC Yukon 2x4
These full size 4 door SUV's are Flexible Fuel vehicles which can use E85 Ethanol, gasoline or any combination of the two. They are available in 4 door 1500 series (1/2 ton), 2x4 and 4x4 configurations.

Model Year: 2005
Manufacturer: General Motors
Model: GMC Yukon 2x4
Vehicle Type: Sport Utility Vehicles
Fuel Type: E85 Flexible Fuel
Fuel Configuration: Flexible Fuel
Incremental Cost: N/A
Engine Type: V-8
Engine Size: 5.3L
Max. Horsepower: 285
Transmission Type: 4-speed automatic

Fuel Consumption - E85 Flexible Fuel
Efficiency City: 22.5 GLE/100km
Efficiency Hwy: 15.9 GLE/100km
Fuel Consumption - Gasoline
Efficiency City: 17.0 L/100km
Efficiency Hwy: 12.0 L/100km

Fuel Tank Range: 440-623km
Fuel Tank Capacity: 99L
Drive Train: Rear wheel drive
Gross Vehicle Weight: 2,950kg
Curb Weight: 2,190kg

Date modified: 2004-11-18 Important notices

daedong · Apr 27, 2006

Mith said:
Chunder
Barbie
Fizzy tea
Postie
Fair play
Skint
Rollie
Stung
Fudge up

Vin, reckon I got most of yours, couple stuck me though
Fair play on the boot. Reckon with wire/rope, duct tape and cable ties you can do most anything

Fizzy tea ??
Fudge up ??

Mith · Apr 28, 2006

Vin, schools are a mess of both, speeds are mph or kph, but they are mostly metric. Less younger people use imperial, but things like signs are imperial, so nobody can escape it.

Fudge up - not quite as bad as a f**k up
Fizzy tea - beer

Jim_S · Apr 28, 2006

Mith said:
Less younger people

As a charter member of the less younger crowd I appreciate your tact.

I'm sure the tool manufacturers appreciate the metric conversion in the states. I've had to buy two of everything except for the hammers and pry bars. They seem to work well with either standard.

Jim

bczoom · Apr 28, 2006

jim slagle said:
I've had to buy two of everything except for the hammers and pry bars. They seem to work well with either standard.

Jim

Jim,

I agree but did you get the left-handed or right-handed hammer and pry bar?

Junkman · Apr 28, 2006

To up the ante.. How about the Wentworth standard that those Britts used in making automobiles..... It wasn't bad enough that they always needed repair, but they made it difficult to repair them with the tools you had. I gave away all my Snap-On Wentworth tools when I got out of the trade. Unfortunately, that was before I realized that anyone else would even consider working on those damn bloody cars!!!!!!

ghautz · Apr 28, 2006

A few years ago a coworker had his wife running all over town looking for a metric adjustable (crescent) wrench. The joke was on him when he found out some are marked with the length in cm instead of inches.

Jim_S · Apr 28, 2006

bczoom said:
Jim,

I agree but did you get the left-handed or right-handed hammer and pry bar?

You may have discovered the solution to a problem I've had for years. I'm right handed and I constantly bend nails over instead of driving them straight in.

Do you think I accidentally purchased a left handed hammer?

bczoom · Apr 28, 2006

jim slagle said:
Do you think I accidentally purchased a left handed hammer?

You probably did. We should switch as I have the same problem and I'm left handed (and probably bought a right-handed hammer).

I have figured something out though... When you pick up a handful of nails, the ones that are facing the correct direction to nail go on that wall. The nails that are pointing the wrong direction go on the other side of the building so they'll then be pointing in the right direction

Jim_S · Apr 28, 2006

bczoom said:
You probably did. We should switch as I have the same problem and I'm left handed (and probably bought a right-handed hammer).

I have figured something out though... When you pick up a handful of nails, the ones that are facing the correct direction to nail go on that wall. The nails that are pointing the wrong direction go on the other side of the building so they'll then be pointing in the right direction

OK, now I'm confused. It makes a difference which end of the nail you hammer in? Could that be part of my problem?

bczoom · Apr 29, 2006

It might be.. :yum:

So what do you call a 2x4?

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