It was actually pretty great when I worked for a company making things here in england:
"That needs to move 50cm" meant it had to move exactly 500mm
"That needs to move a foot" meant just kick it over about a foot
It was just an unspoken thing that metric meant precise and imperial was just caveman measuring
You know we use pounds as a weight measurement too, right?
Some countries use imperial measurements, others metric, but the UK enjoys both.
It was actually pretty great when I worked for a company making things here in england:
"That needs to move 50cm" meant it had to move exactly 500mm
"That needs to move a foot" meant just kick it over about a foot
It was just an unspoken thing that metric meant precise and imperial was just caveman measuring
For some reason I too, subconsciously comprehend it that way.
Never worked in Civil or Mech