Why do Brits still use stone as a measurement?

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  • yoovie
    yoovie Posts: 17,121 Member
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    Why do Yanks still use Imperial as measurement when the rest of the world uses Metric?

    I dunno, cause it makes us slightly faster and more original?

  • lishie_rebooted
    lishie_rebooted Posts: 2,973 Member
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    Why do Yanks still use Imperial as measurement when the rest of the world uses Metric?

    Because they failed in the switchover prior to my birth.

    But in northern New England, a lot of our highway signs are in both metric and Imperial. And English and French.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,951 Member
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    603reader wrote: »
    Why do Yanks still use Imperial as measurement when the rest of the world uses Metric?

    Because they failed in the switchover prior to my birth.

    But in northern New England, a lot of our highway signs are in both metric and Imperial. And English and French.

    I dug that about Stowe VT. 100kph is much cooler than 60mph.
  • BigDave1050
    BigDave1050 Posts: 854 Member
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    I think they use it because it sounds Awesome! "Hey mate, I lost two stone!" I like that better then "I lost 28LBS." Plus, isn't a Pound a form of currency on that side of the pond?
  • solarpower03
    solarpower03 Posts: 12,159 Member
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    yoovie wrote: »
    This is for you Brits. Please explain why you guys are always posting about weight loss in stone. I mean, one stone is 14 lbs! That's a huge unit of measurement to use when talking about weight loss. It would be like measuring cocaine in pounds. I'm not trying to be insulting, just genuinely confused about how it works when one stone could be two clothing sizes.

    Dude... you're American... we still use the Imperial System. You can't pick on someone else for still being in diapers when you are running around in diapers too!

    I am British and our units are effed up. We use a mix of Imperial and Metric. So we pay for petrol in £/litre but report our car fuel consumption in mpg (miles per gallon). If you go to to doctor, our body weight is recorded in kg but here we report in lbs/stones etc. Similar things happen in our supermarket. BTW, our imperial differs from American imperial- check for difference in gallon for example!
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
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    Both systems are used and it doesnt cause any issues. Imperial is used out of tradition and its worked fine for a long time, but we also use metric.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
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    dbmata wrote: »
    I want to know why british cooking regards salt as an exotic spice.

    It doesnt , you just made it up.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
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    yoovie wrote: »

    Dude... you're American... we still use the Imperial System. You can't pick on someone else for still being in diapers when you are running around in diapers too!

    Thats the irony, he doesnt realise his country still uses imperial as well.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,951 Member
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    999tigger wrote: »
    dbmata wrote: »
    I want to know why british cooking regards salt as an exotic spice.

    It doesnt , you just made it up.
    lol.
  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
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    Why do you Americans insist on using fractional inches, 12 inches in a foot, 3 feet in a yard, 1760 yards in a mile? Why do you still use Fahrenheit? Same for 16 ounces in a pound? Seriously. It's messed up. Get up to speed with the rest of the world!
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
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    Who knows? Who do we use feet and inches (as do Americans too, right?) while they use metres/centimetres in the rest of Europe. Why do we use miles and not kilometres?
  • yoovie
    yoovie Posts: 17,121 Member
    edited December 2014
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    999tigger wrote: »
    yoovie wrote: »

    Dude... you're American... we still use the Imperial System. You can't pick on someone else for still being in diapers when you are running around in diapers too!

    Thats the irony, he doesnt realise his country still uses imperial as well.

    I didn't say that. Please dont get me flagged.
  • txw955
    txw955 Posts: 26 Member
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    Because that's what the scales say I weight. If I look really really really close I can see my kg weight but the markers are so small on my mechanical scales I can't tell exactly.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
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    yoovie wrote: »
    Why do Yanks still use Imperial as measurement when the rest of the world uses Metric?

    I dunno, cause it makes us slightly faster and more original?

    Original isn't the right word, out dated more like? I do wish there was a universal moving to the metric system and then we'd all be singing off the same hymn sheet :-D
  • lishie_rebooted
    lishie_rebooted Posts: 2,973 Member
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    Why do you Americans insist on using fractional inches, 12 inches in a foot, 3 feet in a yard, 1760 yards in a mile? Why do you still use Fahrenheit? Same for 16 ounces in a pound? Seriously. It's messed up. Get up to speed with the rest of the world!

    Why do you use Celsius?
    Why not use Kelvin?
    Absoulte zero is based on Kelvin...


    Then there's Rankine...
  • yoovie
    yoovie Posts: 17,121 Member
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    yoovie wrote: »
    Why do Yanks still use Imperial as measurement when the rest of the world uses Metric?

    I dunno, cause it makes us slightly faster and more original?

    Original isn't the right word, out dated more like? I do wish there was a universal moving to the metric system and then we'd all be singing off the same hymn sheet :-D

    church is not regulated by government measurements, thank goodness. I refuse to measure anything in hymns.

    also, my comment was in response to the person who said the same thing as me, right after me. a joke about being faster.

    it's ok, i know people dont really read things as they go, here. they skim and judge, skim and judge.

    like you do after you sing.

  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
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    yoovie wrote: »
    yoovie wrote: »
    Why do Yanks still use Imperial as measurement when the rest of the world uses Metric?

    I dunno, cause it makes us slightly faster and more original?

    Original isn't the right word, out dated more like? I do wish there was a universal moving to the metric system and then we'd all be singing off the same hymn sheet :-D

    church is not regulated by government measurements, thank goodness. I refuse to measure anything in hymns.

    also, my comment was in response to the person who said the same thing as me, right after me. a joke about being faster.

    it's ok, i know people dont really read things as they go, here. they skim and judge, skim and judge.

    like you do after you sing.
    LOL you're right I skim ...pick out something and comment :-D ps I sing like an angel ;)
  • 0somuchbetter0
    0somuchbetter0 Posts: 1,335 Member
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    I know! Throw it in a bog. If it floats, it's made of wood! If not, it's a witch!

    There, now we can dispense with the whole Imperial vs. metric nonsense.
  • kyta32
    kyta32 Posts: 670 Member
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    I found the stone to be very confusing when I joined MFP. I would have to use my laptop's calculator to figure out my 5 week predictions. But, after a while, I fould each stone to be a nice minigoal each time the predictions said I would go down one. I kind of miss it now...

    My car has a button that changes the speed displayed from kilometers to miles. My boyfriend messes with it every once in a while...I'm driving along, seeing 30 on my spedometer, and wondering why everyone is going so slowly....So far I've figured it out before getting myself into trouble...

    It's funny when I complain about the heat when I'm in the US. "It was so hot - 34 degrees!" and get looked at like I'm nuts.

    It will be nice when we all use the same measurements, convenient and simple. But also a little less interesting.
  • Fuzzipeg
    Fuzzipeg Posts: 2,298 Member
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    the number of Stones are less frightening than the kilogram equivalent. ha ha. also I learned stones, pounds and ounces in my school days.