What's with measuring things in stones?

manorexicmarshmallow
manorexicmarshmallow Posts: 80 Member
edited October 2 in Chit-Chat
Has anyone else wondered why British people still measure weight in stones? I could see that this would make sense if a stone was an even 10 pounds or something, but its something like 14 pounds, right? How is it not more confusing and hard to calculate to say I weigh 13 stone, 11 pounds then just to say I weigh 194 pounds?

Then again us yanks still use a foot to represent 12 inches, so maybe we'd all be better off on the metric system.....
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Replies

  • tashajayne2011
    tashajayne2011 Posts: 288
    Because it is what it is... :p
  • paintitblack
    paintitblack Posts: 60
    As a Brit, I can honestly say it's not that confusing! Well, the 14 thing is a little but you get used to it quick and there are online converters to make it easier if you don't fancy doing any math.
  • Leanne1795
    Leanne1795 Posts: 186
    A pound isn't 10oz though. It's 16. So it all works out in the end. :)
  • rockchick90
    rockchick90 Posts: 125
    its just how I was brought up! gives me meaning to weight cos if someone said they were like 200lb id have to convert it to stone cos 200lb means nothing to me!
  • epj78
    epj78 Posts: 643 Member
    Why do we measure things in miles and feet? I mean, a foot isn't 10 inches...... and a mile isn't 1000 feet......
  • clioandboy
    clioandboy Posts: 963 Member
    Imperial measurements, same as your foot and your inches, at least the money went metric there were 144 pennies in the pound I believe....
    But now when you can make your 'cup' logical you can complain about stones lol!!!!
  • teacherspet1
    teacherspet1 Posts: 142 Member
    Being a Brit we work in old money..........its just what we are used to but we are smart enough to convert it to lbs............you would appear to have lost 2 stone 9 lbs .......... WELL DONE mate ........ keep up the good work.
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
    Why do Americans measure things in cups?
  • FifiLea
    FifiLea Posts: 80 Member
    I find that I can't really get a mental picture if someone tells me what they weigh in pounds. I *have* to convert it into stones.

    Even my own weight that MFP *makes* me record in pounds confuses me...after each weigh-in I whip out the calculator and divide the number of pounds by 14 so I know what I really weigh! :laugh:

    Edited to add: And yeah! CUPS - what *is* that all about?? How can you measure liquids and solids using the same measurement? <shakes head in bewilderment>
  • infamousmk
    infamousmk Posts: 6,033 Member
    I think it's their backhanded way of making fun of the imperial system.
  • Jorra
    Jorra Posts: 3,338 Member
    They probably wouldn't say 13 stone 11 pounds, they'd say 13 stone 5 kilograms.

    Even with kilograms it's wonky because a stone 6.35kg.

    Math is fun. :smile:
  • xAdrianax
    xAdrianax Posts: 269 Member
    Haha i know how you feel because us brits think why dont other people use stones! instead they use pounds and kilos hahah! each to their own!
  • vanessaclarkgbr
    vanessaclarkgbr Posts: 731 Member
    I am the spanner in the works then - Brit who weighs in in pounds! I used to use stone but get hung up about the stupid weight number so went onto pounds - because it means nothing to me. So I know my current weight, try and forget my goal weight and focus on my BMI. There, I am trouble :-)
  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
    How many roads must a man walk down before they call him a man?
  • Pidders89
    Pidders89 Posts: 1,169 Member
    I am from the UK and ive been brought up using stones and pounds together so its what im used to. Like Fifi said its confusing not using it. I also agree with melanie...why measure in cups!?
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,605 Member
    Has anyone else wondered why British people still measure weight in stones? I could see that this would make sense if a stone was an even 10 pounds or something, but its something like 14 pounds, right? How is it not more confusing and hard to calculate to say I weigh 13 stone, 11 pounds then just to say I weigh 194 pounds?

    Then again us yanks still use a foot to represent 12 inches, so maybe we'd all be better off on the metric system.....

    I'm British. But since I don't view the metric system as an evil insurgency project sponsored by Eurocrats, I tend to measure in kilograms....

    That said, I think that one of the advantages from a weightloss point of view is that a stone loss roughly translates to a dress size, once you get below about 19 stone. It's an easy figure to work with for those purposes.

    I tend to know what I weigh in lbs, kilos and stone.
  • ahunkofmexican
    ahunkofmexican Posts: 199
    Well they drive on the wrong side of the road, so why shouldn't they measure things in stones. Somethings never change, ( since the stone age ). ;- ) Oya pip pip cheerios and tea time. Hello Leanne. Now put down the Rollin pin,All 16 oz of it.
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,605 Member
    Oh and all these americans with their FLUID OUNCES? What do they even *mean*???? I drink pints. I drink liters. I wouldn't know what an eight ounce bottle was if it suddenly grew teeth and bit me!
  • manorexicmarshmallow
    manorexicmarshmallow Posts: 80 Member
    Imperial measurements, same as your foot and your inches, at least the money went metric there were 144 pennies in the pound I believe....
    But now when you can make your 'cup' logical you can complain about stones lol!!!!

    hahaha you totally have us there. The worst is the fact that there are 16 ounces in a pound, but only 8 fluid ounces in a cup, I mean wth, right?
  • Nikki881
    Nikki881 Posts: 203
    In response to the metric system, I'm from Canada, and I still weigh everything in pounds and measure in feet and inches. It's only when I'm talking about distance or speed that I really use the metric system.... I even still use cups and tablespoons for measurements.
  • killagb
    killagb Posts: 3,280 Member
    Imperial measurements, same as your foot and your inches, at least the money went metric there were 144 pennies in the pound I believe....
    But now when you can make your 'cup' logical you can complain about stones lol!!!!

    hahaha you totally have us there. The worst is the fact that there are 16 ounces in a pound, but only 8 fluid ounces in a cup, I mean wth, right?

    Apparently our own system baffles you, because weight and volume are not even the same thing...so there SHOULD'NT be any logical connection between a fluid ounce and an ounce of weight. And the concept of a cup is simple....it holds 8 fluid ounces....for solids it's basically the amount of the solid that would take of 8 fluid ounces of volume, which is why solids are all different weights per cup, depending on the substance, which is why solids are just easier to weigh.
  • Hollie55
    Hollie55 Posts: 65 Member
    Just to be different I am in New Zealand & we measure in kgs so I have to convert the Lbs and St into kgs. Except we still measure newborn babies in lbs aswell as grams.
  • fabi8081
    fabi8081 Posts: 232 Member
    Hahaha I love the responses. I am American and measure in lbs (and cups) but I like stone for workout weight it sounds so much better when you say I've lost 2 stones. Pounds your like ok I've lost pounds. Stones sound so much more heavier like I've lost a lot more.
  • clioandboy
    clioandboy Posts: 963 Member
    Apparently our own system baffles you, because weight and volume are not even the same thing...so there SHOULD'NT be any logical connection between a fluid ounce and an ounce of weight. And the concept of a cup is simple....it holds 8 fluid ounces....for solids it's basically the amount of the solid that would take of 8 fluid ounces of volume, which is why solids are all different weights per cup, depending on the substance, which is why solids are just easier to weigh.
    [/quote]


    Lol clear as mud! I'll stick to weighing my food rather than ramming as much lettuce as possible into my cup....
  • killagb
    killagb Posts: 3,280 Member
    Apparently our own system baffles you, because weight and volume are not even the same thing...so there SHOULD'NT be any logical connection between a fluid ounce and an ounce of weight. And the concept of a cup is simple....it holds 8 fluid ounces....for solids it's basically the amount of the solid that would take of 8 fluid ounces of volume, which is why solids are all different weights per cup, depending on the substance, which is why solids are just easier to weigh.


    Lol clear as mud! I'll stick to weighing my food rather than ramming as much lettuce as possible into my cup....

    Exactly why I said..."which is why solids are just easier to weigh" :drinker:
  • infamousmk
    infamousmk Posts: 6,033 Member
    I drink pints too, but not because I'm British or anything.
  • manorexicmarshmallow
    manorexicmarshmallow Posts: 80 Member
    I drink pints too, but not because I'm British or anything.

    traitor! I swear its almost as if the War of 1812 didn't even happen. Sheesh :wink:
  • JennCLHowell
    JennCLHowell Posts: 7 Member
    I just want to say I am loving these replys lol

    I must admit as a Brit I am actually finding it easier to measure in pounds (MFP being the first time I have ever used pounds) rather than stone, but yeah really dont get the whole cup thing.... i actually picture a cup, or a mug that i put my tea in and it just confuses me even more cos if I measured anything with one of my cups id be eating enough for three people haha
  • benodie
    benodie Posts: 231 Member
    I'm a brit . . .I measure in stones because its the only way I can get a mental picture . .I don't really know how to explain it but I was 21 stone 12lb at my heaviest, which is AWFUL but converting that to 306lbs means nothing to me!! (not sure I've even worked that out right lol!)

    p.s . .the whole american 'cup' thing drives me MAD!! Don't get it lol! ;)
  • killagb
    killagb Posts: 3,280 Member
    To the befuddled Brits...it's simple. 8 oz. of fluid fits into a VERY specific sized object. Has nothing to with drinking cup or a glass or anything of the sort....that argument is like us saying that stones are confusing because it's a rock...which is clearly silly.

    Stones IS part of the imperial measurement system....as well as pints....sigh this is probably a bad use of my time to explain this.
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