Americans Will Use Anything Except The Metric System

2019Catchphrase / reaction memeactive

Also known as: Americans Will Measure Using Anything But The Metric System

Americans Will Use Anything Except The Metric System is a 2019 catchphrase meme originating from a Kansas City news report measuring a sinkhole in washing machines, mocking American media's use of absurd non-standard units like alligators and hamburgers.

"Americans Will Use Anything Except The Metric System" is a catchphrase meme that mocks the tendency of American media and institutions to measure things using absurd, non-standard units like washing machines, alligators, and hamburgers instead of metric measurements. The phrase took off in August 2019 after a Twitter user quote-tweeted a Kansas City news report that described a sinkhole as "roughly six to seven washing machines" wide, and examples of the joke keep surfacing whenever U.S. news outlets reach for creative comparisons.

TL;DR

"Americans Will Use Anything Except The Metric System" is a catchphrase meme that mocks the tendency of American media and institutions to measure things using absurd, non-standard units like washing machines, alligators, and hamburgers instead of metric measurements.

Overview

The meme centers on a simple observation: American news outlets, government agencies, and everyday conversations frequently describe sizes, distances, and weights using bizarre comparisons rather than standard metric units. A sinkhole isn't 4 meters wide, it's "six to seven washing machines." An asteroid isn't 5 meters across, it's "giraffe-sized." Social distancing isn't 2 meters, it's "one alligator length apart."

The humor comes from the sheer creativity of these comparisons and the fact that they often raise more questions than they answer2. Refrigerators, for instance, come in wildly different sizes depending on whether you're talking about a college dorm mini-fridge or the double-door behemoth in a suburban kitchen2. The meme format typically pairs a screenshot of an actual American news report using a non-standard measurement with the catchphrase or a variation of it.

The concept predates the famous catchphrase by several years. On October 6, 2015, Redditor ijkirl posted an image to r/Funny showing what appeared to be a library book page explaining that a deer is "as tall as a bicycle and weighs as much as 800 hamburgers"3. The caption framed this as a distinctly American approach to measurement, and the comments quickly turned into jokes about the country's reluctance to adopt the metric system3.

The catchphrase itself arrived four years later. On August 10, 2019, Twitter user @Ralphium quote-retweeted a report from Kansas City's KSHB 41 News, which had described a road sinkhole as "roughly six to seven washing machines" in size3. @Ralphium's commentary, riffing on the idea that Americans will measure with literally anything except metric units, struck a nerve. The tweet pulled in over 250,000 likes and 67,000 retweets over the following years3.

Origin & Background

Platform
Reddit (early examples), Twitter (viral catchphrase)
Key People
@Ralphium, ijkirl
Date
2019 (phrase), 2015 (concept)

The concept predates the famous catchphrase by several years. On October 6, 2015, Redditor ijkirl posted an image to r/Funny showing what appeared to be a library book page explaining that a deer is "as tall as a bicycle and weighs as much as 800 hamburgers". The caption framed this as a distinctly American approach to measurement, and the comments quickly turned into jokes about the country's reluctance to adopt the metric system.

The catchphrase itself arrived four years later. On August 10, 2019, Twitter user @Ralphium quote-retweeted a report from Kansas City's KSHB 41 News, which had described a road sinkhole as "roughly six to seven washing machines" in size. @Ralphium's commentary, riffing on the idea that Americans will measure with literally anything except metric units, struck a nerve. The tweet pulled in over 250,000 likes and 67,000 retweets over the following years.

How It Spread

The meme jumped to Reddit's meme communities quickly. On February 4, 2020, Redditor OfficialLuxxy posted to r/Me_Irl using the "Nobody" format, with the British explaining they developed the metric system while Americans responded with the deer-hamburger measurement image. That post collected over 10,000 upvotes.

The COVID-19 pandemic gave the meme a fresh boost in April 2020, when Polk County, Florida suggested residents use "one alligator" as a social distancing guideline. The county's official guidance appeared in a news report, and the screenshot spread across r/Dankmemes and Twitter as a perfect real-world example of the joke.

American news kept delivering material. In 2022, an asteroid scare produced headlines describing the space rock as "giraffe-sized," which became another widely shared example. Then in early 2024, when Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 lost a door plug mid-flight, multiple outlets described the resulting opening as "about the size of a refrigerator". The Autopian pointed out the obvious flaw in that comparison: refrigerators come in dramatically different sizes depending on whether you mean a European apartment model or the massive American version.

The meme also found a natural home around National Metric Week, celebrated each year during the week containing October 10th (10/10, a nod to the base-10 system). Cheezburger compiled a listicle noting that Americans have measured things in feet, stones, grains, football fields, cheeseburgers, bald eagles, bathtubs, and even Ariana Grande.

How to Use This Meme

The meme works in two main ways:

Sharing real examples: Screenshot an actual American news report, tweet, or official communication that uses a non-standard unit of measurement. Caption it with "Americans will use anything except the metric system" or a variation. The funnier the comparison unit, the better the post lands.

Creating fictional examples: Make up absurd measurement comparisons in the same style. "That's about 47 bald eagles long" or "roughly the weight of 3,000 McNuggets." The joke works best when the fake unit sounds just plausible enough to have appeared in a real news broadcast.

The format is flexible. It shows up as image macros, Twitter quote-tweets, Reddit posts with the "Nobody:" template, and simple text posts. The key ingredient is always the same: an American measurement that uses anything other than meters, liters, or grams.

Cultural Impact

The meme taps into a long-running international joke about the United States being one of only three countries (alongside Myanmar and Liberia) that haven't officially adopted the metric system. What makes it land so well is that the examples are almost always real. American news genuinely does describe sinkholes in washing machines and asteroids in giraffes.

The joke also works as gentle self-deprecation among Americans who recognize the absurdity. Professionals who work in both measurement systems, like those in precision manufacturing and automotive repair, note that fluency in both metric and imperial is already a practical reality, even if the news broadcasts haven't caught up.

Fun Facts

National Metric Week falls on the week containing October 10th because 10/10 references the base-10 metric system, but most Americans have never heard of it.

The Swabian German word "Muggeseggele," meaning roughly "a housefly's ballsack," is used the same way English speakers say "a smidge," proving Americans aren't the only ones with creative measurement alternatives.

Metric and imperial socket wrenches are surprisingly close in some sizes: 8mm is nearly identical to 5/16" and 11mm works for 7/16", a quirk that mechanics on both sides of the Atlantic exploit daily.

Cheezburger described their metric system listicle as "15 squirrels long," staying perfectly on-brand.

Derivatives & Variations

Alligator Social Distancing

Polk County, Florida's suggestion to maintain one alligator-length of social distance during COVID-19 became one of the most shared standalone examples[3].

Giraffe-Sized Asteroid

A 2022 news headline describing an asteroid as "giraffe-sized" generated its own wave of meme posts[2].

Refrigerator Door Plug

The Alaska Airlines door plug incident in 2024, described as "about the size of a refrigerator," sparked fresh discussion about which refrigerator, exactly[2].

Deer-Hamburger Scale

The original 2015 library book image (deer = 800 hamburgers) functions as the proto-example of the format and gets regularly reposted[3].

Frequently Asked Questions

AmericansWillUseAnythingExceptTheMetricSystem

2019Catchphrase / reaction memeactive

Also known as: Americans Will Measure Using Anything But The Metric System

Americans Will Use Anything Except The Metric System is a 2019 catchphrase meme originating from a Kansas City news report measuring a sinkhole in washing machines, mocking American media's use of absurd non-standard units like alligators and hamburgers.

"Americans Will Use Anything Except The Metric System" is a catchphrase meme that mocks the tendency of American media and institutions to measure things using absurd, non-standard units like washing machines, alligators, and hamburgers instead of metric measurements. The phrase took off in August 2019 after a Twitter user quote-tweeted a Kansas City news report that described a sinkhole as "roughly six to seven washing machines" wide, and examples of the joke keep surfacing whenever U.S. news outlets reach for creative comparisons.

TL;DR

"Americans Will Use Anything Except The Metric System" is a catchphrase meme that mocks the tendency of American media and institutions to measure things using absurd, non-standard units like washing machines, alligators, and hamburgers instead of metric measurements.

Overview

The meme centers on a simple observation: American news outlets, government agencies, and everyday conversations frequently describe sizes, distances, and weights using bizarre comparisons rather than standard metric units. A sinkhole isn't 4 meters wide, it's "six to seven washing machines." An asteroid isn't 5 meters across, it's "giraffe-sized." Social distancing isn't 2 meters, it's "one alligator length apart."

The humor comes from the sheer creativity of these comparisons and the fact that they often raise more questions than they answer. Refrigerators, for instance, come in wildly different sizes depending on whether you're talking about a college dorm mini-fridge or the double-door behemoth in a suburban kitchen. The meme format typically pairs a screenshot of an actual American news report using a non-standard measurement with the catchphrase or a variation of it.

The concept predates the famous catchphrase by several years. On October 6, 2015, Redditor ijkirl posted an image to r/Funny showing what appeared to be a library book page explaining that a deer is "as tall as a bicycle and weighs as much as 800 hamburgers". The caption framed this as a distinctly American approach to measurement, and the comments quickly turned into jokes about the country's reluctance to adopt the metric system.

The catchphrase itself arrived four years later. On August 10, 2019, Twitter user @Ralphium quote-retweeted a report from Kansas City's KSHB 41 News, which had described a road sinkhole as "roughly six to seven washing machines" in size. @Ralphium's commentary, riffing on the idea that Americans will measure with literally anything except metric units, struck a nerve. The tweet pulled in over 250,000 likes and 67,000 retweets over the following years.

Origin & Background

Platform
Reddit (early examples), Twitter (viral catchphrase)
Key People
@Ralphium, ijkirl
Date
2019 (phrase), 2015 (concept)

The concept predates the famous catchphrase by several years. On October 6, 2015, Redditor ijkirl posted an image to r/Funny showing what appeared to be a library book page explaining that a deer is "as tall as a bicycle and weighs as much as 800 hamburgers". The caption framed this as a distinctly American approach to measurement, and the comments quickly turned into jokes about the country's reluctance to adopt the metric system.

The catchphrase itself arrived four years later. On August 10, 2019, Twitter user @Ralphium quote-retweeted a report from Kansas City's KSHB 41 News, which had described a road sinkhole as "roughly six to seven washing machines" in size. @Ralphium's commentary, riffing on the idea that Americans will measure with literally anything except metric units, struck a nerve. The tweet pulled in over 250,000 likes and 67,000 retweets over the following years.

How It Spread

The meme jumped to Reddit's meme communities quickly. On February 4, 2020, Redditor OfficialLuxxy posted to r/Me_Irl using the "Nobody" format, with the British explaining they developed the metric system while Americans responded with the deer-hamburger measurement image. That post collected over 10,000 upvotes.

The COVID-19 pandemic gave the meme a fresh boost in April 2020, when Polk County, Florida suggested residents use "one alligator" as a social distancing guideline. The county's official guidance appeared in a news report, and the screenshot spread across r/Dankmemes and Twitter as a perfect real-world example of the joke.

American news kept delivering material. In 2022, an asteroid scare produced headlines describing the space rock as "giraffe-sized," which became another widely shared example. Then in early 2024, when Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 lost a door plug mid-flight, multiple outlets described the resulting opening as "about the size of a refrigerator". The Autopian pointed out the obvious flaw in that comparison: refrigerators come in dramatically different sizes depending on whether you mean a European apartment model or the massive American version.

The meme also found a natural home around National Metric Week, celebrated each year during the week containing October 10th (10/10, a nod to the base-10 system). Cheezburger compiled a listicle noting that Americans have measured things in feet, stones, grains, football fields, cheeseburgers, bald eagles, bathtubs, and even Ariana Grande.

How to Use This Meme

The meme works in two main ways:

Sharing real examples: Screenshot an actual American news report, tweet, or official communication that uses a non-standard unit of measurement. Caption it with "Americans will use anything except the metric system" or a variation. The funnier the comparison unit, the better the post lands.

Creating fictional examples: Make up absurd measurement comparisons in the same style. "That's about 47 bald eagles long" or "roughly the weight of 3,000 McNuggets." The joke works best when the fake unit sounds just plausible enough to have appeared in a real news broadcast.

The format is flexible. It shows up as image macros, Twitter quote-tweets, Reddit posts with the "Nobody:" template, and simple text posts. The key ingredient is always the same: an American measurement that uses anything other than meters, liters, or grams.

Cultural Impact

The meme taps into a long-running international joke about the United States being one of only three countries (alongside Myanmar and Liberia) that haven't officially adopted the metric system. What makes it land so well is that the examples are almost always real. American news genuinely does describe sinkholes in washing machines and asteroids in giraffes.

The joke also works as gentle self-deprecation among Americans who recognize the absurdity. Professionals who work in both measurement systems, like those in precision manufacturing and automotive repair, note that fluency in both metric and imperial is already a practical reality, even if the news broadcasts haven't caught up.

Fun Facts

National Metric Week falls on the week containing October 10th because 10/10 references the base-10 metric system, but most Americans have never heard of it.

The Swabian German word "Muggeseggele," meaning roughly "a housefly's ballsack," is used the same way English speakers say "a smidge," proving Americans aren't the only ones with creative measurement alternatives.

Metric and imperial socket wrenches are surprisingly close in some sizes: 8mm is nearly identical to 5/16" and 11mm works for 7/16", a quirk that mechanics on both sides of the Atlantic exploit daily.

Cheezburger described their metric system listicle as "15 squirrels long," staying perfectly on-brand.

Derivatives & Variations

Alligator Social Distancing

Polk County, Florida's suggestion to maintain one alligator-length of social distance during COVID-19 became one of the most shared standalone examples[3].

Giraffe-Sized Asteroid

A 2022 news headline describing an asteroid as "giraffe-sized" generated its own wave of meme posts[2].

Refrigerator Door Plug

The Alaska Airlines door plug incident in 2024, described as "about the size of a refrigerator," sparked fresh discussion about which refrigerator, exactly[2].

Deer-Hamburger Scale

The original 2015 library book image (deer = 800 hamburgers) functions as the proto-example of the format and gets regularly reposted[3].

Frequently Asked Questions