curious about "stone"

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la8ydi
la8ydi Posts: 294 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
How much is a "stone" and where are those measurements used? I read a lot of posts about people losing "a stone" and I have no idea if that's really good or what. ;-)

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  • anna_toffee
    anna_toffee Posts: 31 Member
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    a stone is 14lbs. it's used in the UK mainly :)
  • Camera_BagintheUK
    Camera_BagintheUK Posts: 707 Member
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    A stone is 14lbs. Brits of my generation have been brought up between imperial and metric measurements, so I weigh my food in grams but myself in stones and pounds.

    ed: So a stone and a half is one stone seven.
  • adorable_aly
    adorable_aly Posts: 398 Member
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    1 stone= 14lbs
  • la8ydi
    la8ydi Posts: 294 Member
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    Thanks! :-) So a "one stone" loss is significant...now I know!
  • SpecialSundae
    SpecialSundae Posts: 795 Member
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    Or 6.35kg :)
  • SuperstarDJ
    SuperstarDJ Posts: 440 Member
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    A stone is 14lbs. Brits of my generation have been brought up between imperial and metric measurements, so I weigh my food in grams but myself in stones and pounds.

    Lol! Me too.

    I also use Fahrenheit when measuring body temperature, but Celsius when cooking or referring to the weather!
  • willrun4bagels
    willrun4bagels Posts: 838 Member
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    Anyone know how the term "stone" as a definition for that specific amount of weight came about? I am curious!
  • Camera_BagintheUK
    Camera_BagintheUK Posts: 707 Member
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    A stone is 14lbs. Brits of my generation have been brought up between imperial and metric measurements, so I weigh my food in grams but myself in stones and pounds.

    Lol! Me too.

    I also use Fahrenheit when measuring body temperature, but Celsius when cooking or referring to the weather!

    LOL but I'll still buy a pound of apples! And I'll measure fluids for cooking in mls rather than fluid oz, but order pints and half pints in the pub! I drive miles but measure meters and centimeters of fabric or paper. :bigsmile:
  • Camera_BagintheUK
    Camera_BagintheUK Posts: 707 Member
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    Anyone know how the term "stone" as a definition for that specific amount of weight came about? I am curious!

    It's literal - stones used to be used to weigh things for trade http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_(Imperial_mass)
  • Dovekat
    Dovekat Posts: 263 Member
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    I vaguely recall something about a common standard of measurement for commerce being set during the medieval period in England by one of our kings but History classes were a long time ago so I nipped over to Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_(unit)
  • jonnyman41
    jonnyman41 Posts: 1,031 Member
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    when you have been brought up with weighing body weight in stones and pounds it makes sense and you automatically have a sense of what someone means when they say they have lost a stone, weigh 16 stone, etc but can see it does not make sense to anyone not used to these measurements lol.
  • Franki261
    Franki261 Posts: 10
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    Ha - totally. Likewise, if an American gives their weight, I have to go divide it by 14 before I have any idea what they're talking about.

    I still think of my weight in stone and pounds although on here it's listed in kilos because my bathroom scales are metric only. My kitchen scales are metric too but I use a lot of online recipes which are often in ounces or - if they're from the US - cups (which I still haven't got my head around!).
  • samammay
    samammay Posts: 468
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    A stone is 14lbs. Brits of my generation have been brought up between imperial and metric measurements, so I weigh my food in grams but myself in stones and pounds.

    Lol! Me too.

    I also use Fahrenheit when measuring body temperature, but Celsius when cooking or referring to the weather!

    LOL but I'll still buy a pound of apples! And I'll measure fluids for cooking in mls rather than fluid oz, but order pints and half pints in the pub! I drive miles but measure meters and centimeters of fabric or paper. :bigsmile:

    why on earth would you ever order a half a pint in a pub??? :smile:
  • cafeaulait7
    cafeaulait7 Posts: 2,459 Member
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    I've always wondered what the scales say, and I never tried it out when over there. Do they say like 10 S 3 lbs?
  • anna_toffee
    anna_toffee Posts: 31 Member
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    yeah, it comes up on the scale like 10:13 or 10st 3. we tend to leave off the "lbs" :)
  • vwbug86
    vwbug86 Posts: 283 Member
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    Anyone know how the term "stone" as a definition for that specific amount of weight came about? I am curious!

    They same place they got "foot", "cup", "tablespoon", and "teaspoon"

    The entire imperial system has made standard units of measure of everyday things.

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