Amusing piece on LBC Radio, Friday.

The studio presenter wanted three studio guests to 'guess the weight of a typical London rat'. The presenter and guests were probably all in their 20s or 30s. The female presenter asked: "How many grams do you think a typical London rat weighs?"

The first guest said: "Around 2 pounds"

Presenter (lecturer's voice): "No, you must give the answer in grams"

Guest: "Haven't a clue" (laughter off)

The second guest said: "Around one and a quarter pounds"

Presenter (now very strict): "No, you must give the answer in *grams*" (more hilarity off)

Second guest: "I've no idea"

Third guest: "I'd say more like a pound and a half"

Presenter (now thoroughly exasperated): "You *must* give the answer in *grams*" (even more laughter and giggling off)

The by now weary presenter said at the end: "Well. It's 600 grams".


I thought what a wonderful metaphor this was for metrication in Britain: An authority figure demanding everything be done in a new system and the people rejecting the new system and quietly defying it and poking fun at the new system

On my bookshelf I have a book "A Field Guide to the Mammals of Britain and Europe", published by Collins.

The book lists two types of rat - the black rat (rattus rattus) which is found in most part of the Continent and on a few coastal areas of Britain and the brown rat (rattus norvegicus) which is found all over Europe (including Iceland).

According to this reference the weight of the black rat varies between 145 and 215g and the brown rat varies between 275 and 520g. The book itself had no mention of a pounds, ounces, feet or inches.

"The presenter and guests were probably all in their 20s or 30s."

How did you tell?

You must have exceptional hearing, Tony !

Of couse, everyone knows that LBC is "down with the kids" so you must be right.

If the presenter only knew the correct answer in grams how could he be expected to judge attempted answers in pounds.

Besides the question was merely asking for something in a specified unit, if people knowingly reply with an answer that cannot be accepted then they are being ignorant.

Perhaps this is more of a metphor for people who try to rubbish metric.

You are of course paying for this laughing matter many times over. For every dual label, for every dual notation, for every conversion and every time you get taken by an astute shopkeeper.

If the presenter of that programme couldn't go to the effort of converting his data from grams to the more commonly used and preferred weight unit, then he is extremely bad at his job.

Tony,

Who was the presenter? I'm interested.

I can only think of Sandy Toksvig, a lesbian from Denmark - but she always uses imperial when describing things (quite funny really, coming from Denmark!)

And on Saturday you can hear Roland Rivron - who regularly says "and what's that in English" if something is described in metric from a reference manual or, for eaxmple, a book like Martin's above.

Is Roland Rivron a member of BWMA?

I actually think he's very funny.

I don't listen to LBC much these days - its not as "radical" as it used to be. BBC London has a great talk-show with Jon Gaunt.

Aside from that Chris Moyles and Sara Cox (hmmmmmm) on R1 get my "ear" - so to speak.

It's a travesty that they got rid of Mark and Lard!!!

Right, I'm starting to ramble now - so if you could answer my question Mr B!

Also a question to eric: How much does ink cost these days?

Never heard of LBC. Is it a local radio station? If you listen to Pete and Geoff on Virgin Radio, they have had competitions in the past where you have to guess how far someone or something will go (can't remember a specific example). They will usually ask for the answer in metres and all the callers guess in metres and there is no problem.

I am not turning into eric now but I believe that it is sheer ignorance by these people who were told to give the answer in grams and then keep saying pounds. Do they not go supermarket shopping?

LBC = London Broadcasting Company

"I am not turning into eric now but I believe that it is sheer ignorance by these people who were told to give the answer in grams and then keep saying pounds. Do they not go supermarket shopping? "

I am not turning into "an exact opposite of eric" now but do you remember a survey carried out by Tesco? And what they did as a result?


I don't think you realise how people naturally talk.

You don't really like Rivron, do you Steve...?

SteveH,

The presenter and guests were all female. I didn't catch her name.

The co-presenter is a gay male going by the most unlikely name of Elkarim Giovanni.

The lady presenter had a middle class accent and probably reads either the 'Grauniad' or the """Independent"""

Tony: What time of the day did you hear the broadcast?

Bryan (You don't really like Rivron, do you Steve...?) : I find he has a natural and cracking sense of humour. Don't you like him? I know he used to be quite crude many years ago but that's different to now....

(BTW: I am not against crude comedians per sé)

Take Rick Mayal- I love him. Very crude, though.

re (SteveH): "Tony: What time of the day did you hear the broadcast?"

ANS: 12.40pm - 12.50pm BST [11.40pm - 11.50pm GMT]

If that was a week day then it would have been danish lesbian Sandy Toksvig.

To which I would suggest that the "gram" thing and annoyance factor was actually part of her dark sense of humour.