Jane's Posts

Sep 22 1998 12:00 am

P1: Isn't there some sort of rhyme that goes "A pint's a pound the world round"? I always thought it meant that a pint of water weighed a pound everywhere in the world.

P2: I believe there is, and it probably does. That doesn't make it TRUE, though. I've also heard "A pint of water weighs a pound and a quarter", which is true under the imperial system (as used in England) but not under what I now understand is known as the "English" system (as used only in North Amrica).

P1: Or was it the price of a pot of beer?

P2: Beer has only become that expensive (here in England, he added quickly lest anyone misunderstand [yawn]) in the last ten years, or so. In the "affluent" South-East of England a pint in a pub will usually cost between UKP1.5 and UKP2 (depending on the brand and strength of the beer and the greed of the publican), prices are usually lower in the north of England. There are still occasional promotions (new pub opening, etc.) at which a pint of beer is offered for UKP0.99.

Funny you mention beer. My only experience with the Imperial system has been with beer. When I was a teen in the U.S. in the 70's, you could get G.I.Q.'s (grand imperial quarts) of beer. It was much cheaper, like getting a large bottle of Coke instead of individual cans.

There was a snob factor involved, though. Recently, I asked my husband to pick up big bottle of a beer I might like at the liquor store. Horrified, he refused, saying that one can only drink GIQ's out of a brown paper bag in an alley. He was absolutely speechless when I dragged him off to see the microbrew collection at the liquor store. At the store near us there are hundreds of beers available in quarts (as opposed to dozens of brands in six-packs). They range in price from about $2US to $14US.

Now that I think of it, those bottles are probably litres now, aren't they? See what happens? Go metric, and beer costs $14 a bottle.

jane