Stone

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I understand that a stone is unit of mass, but where does it come from?

How much mass is it?

Replies

  • louise5779
    louise5779 Posts: 82 Member
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    One stone is 14 lbs, and 16 oz is 1 lb etc.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    edited October 2016
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    Various weight stones were used for trade and measurements from ancient times - but they used to vary from country to country, region to region and even from trade to trade.

    The UK standardised its stone as 14lbs at about the time Continental Europe were going over to the Metric system of grams and kilograms. As Napoleon never defeated the UK we stayed on the Imperial system of weights and measures. In the 1980's we partly adopted the metric system but stones and pounds are still very commonly used for bodyweight in everyday language.

    People like me (of a certain age!) use both systems, sometimes for different things.
    I tend to use grams for food measurement but think of myself as 12 stone.
    In summer a warm day is often expressed in Fahrenheit but in winter I think in Celsius.

    I know - strange. :neutral:
  • xaryo
    xaryo Posts: 104 Member
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    Well same here for me. Im hybrid in measurments

    Air temperature: celcius
    Water temp: farenheight
    Land distance: m, km
    Various measure of object: m, ft, cm, in
    Depth scubadiving: ft
    Depth freediving : m
    Volume ml, l

    Beat that.

  • ogtmama
    ogtmama Posts: 1,403 Member
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    sijomial wrote: »
    Various weight stones were used for trade and measurements from ancient times - but they used to vary from country to country, region to region and even from trade to trade.

    The UK standardised its stone as 14lbs at about the time Continental Europe were going over to the Metric system of grams and kilograms. As Napoleon never defeated the UK we stayed on the Imperial system of weights and measures. In the 1980's we partly adopted the metric system but stones and pounds are still very commonly used for bodyweight in everyday language.

    People like me (of a certain age!) use both systems, sometimes for different things.
    I tend to use grams for food measurement but think of myself as 12 stone.
    In summer a warm day is often expressed in Fahrenheit but in winter I think in Celsius.

    I know - strange. :neutral:

    It's similar in Canada...we're often halfway between Britain and the United States.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    The stone, as a unit of mass, is in Great Britain. It doesn't swim.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    sijomial wrote: »
    Various weight stones were used for trade and measurements from ancient times - but they used to vary from country to country, region to region and even from trade to trade.

    The UK standardised its stone as 14lbs at about the time Continental Europe were going over to the Metric system of grams and kilograms. As Napoleon never defeated the UK we stayed on the Imperial system of weights and measures. In the 1980's we partly adopted the metric system but stones and pounds are still very commonly used for bodyweight in everyday language.

    People like me (of a certain age!) use both systems, sometimes for different things.
    I tend to use grams for food measurement but think of myself as 12 stone.
    In summer a warm day is often expressed in Fahrenheit but in winter I think in Celsius.

    I know - strange. :neutral:
    sijomial wrote: »
    Various weight stones were used for trade and measurements from ancient times - but they used to vary from country to country, region to region and even from trade to trade.

    The UK standardised its stone as 14lbs at about the time Continental Europe were going over to the Metric system of grams and kilograms. As Napoleon never defeated the UK we stayed on the Imperial system of weights and measures. In the 1980's we partly adopted the metric system but stones and pounds are still very commonly used for bodyweight in everyday language.

    People like me (of a certain age!) use both systems, sometimes for different things. Yup
    I tend to use grams for food measurement but think of myself as 12 stone. Yup. But lbs too
    In summer a warm day is often expressed in Fahrenheit but in winter I think in Celsius. Wut the what now?

    I know - strange. :neutral:

    Also cm, metres and miles
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    xaryo wrote: »
    Well same here for me. Im hybrid in measurments

    Air temperature: celcius
    Water temp: farenheight
    Land distance: m, km
    Various measure of object: m, ft, cm, in
    Depth scubadiving: ft
    Depth freediving : m
    Volume ml, l

    Beat that.
    I fill my car tank up in litres but work out my fuel consumption in miles per gallon.
    When driving in France I was so occupied doing the mental arithmetic after a fuel stop I pulled out onto the wrong side of the road. Well the correct side really - it's the French that are wrong, clearly! :)

    @Sued0nim
    In summer a warm day is often expressed in Fahrenheit but in winter I think in Celsius. Wut the what now?
    80 degrees is a nice summer's day but 0 degrees in winter means watch out for ice. Makes (im)perfect sense!
  • ogtmama
    ogtmama Posts: 1,403 Member
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    sijomial wrote: »
    xaryo wrote: »
    Well same here for me. Im hybrid in measurments

    Air temperature: celcius
    Water temp: farenheight
    Land distance: m, km
    Various measure of object: m, ft, cm, in
    Depth scubadiving: ft
    Depth freediving : m
    Volume ml, l

    Beat that.
    I fill my car tank up in litres but work out my fuel consumption in miles per gallon.
    When driving in France I was so occupied doing the mental arithmetic after a fuel stop I pulled out onto the wrong side of the road. Well the correct side really - it's the French that are wrong, clearly! :)

    @Sued0nim
    In summer a warm day is often expressed in Fahrenheit but in winter I think in Celsius. Wut the what now?
    80 degrees is a nice summer's day but 0 degrees in winter means watch out for ice. Makes (im)perfect sense!

    Exactly.
  • ejbronte
    ejbronte Posts: 867 Member
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    My arithmetic incompetence would have done me in during older times in Britain: not only stone but shillings too. I would have either driven myself bankrupt or been arrested for unintentional fraud.
  • Tubbs216
    Tubbs216 Posts: 6,597 Member
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    Some of the old British measurements are wonderful:
    http://home.clara.net/brianp/quickref.html
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    Sued0nim wrote: »
    sijomial wrote: »
    Various weight stones were used for trade and measurements from ancient times - but they used to vary from country to country, region to region and even from trade to trade.

    The UK standardised its stone as 14lbs at about the time Continental Europe were going over to the Metric system of grams and kilograms. As Napoleon never defeated the UK we stayed on the Imperial system of weights and measures. In the 1980's we partly adopted the metric system but stones and pounds are still very commonly used for bodyweight in everyday language.

    People like me (of a certain age!) use both systems, sometimes for different things.
    I tend to use grams for food measurement but think of myself as 12 stone.
    In summer a warm day is often expressed in Fahrenheit but in winter I think in Celsius.

    I know - strange. :neutral:
    sijomial wrote: »
    Various weight stones were used for trade and measurements from ancient times - but they used to vary from country to country, region to region and even from trade to trade.

    The UK standardised its stone as 14lbs at about the time Continental Europe were going over to the Metric system of grams and kilograms. As Napoleon never defeated the UK we stayed on the Imperial system of weights and measures. In the 1980's we partly adopted the metric system but stones and pounds are still very commonly used for bodyweight in everyday language.

    People like me (of a certain age!) use both systems, sometimes for different things. Yup
    I tend to use grams for food measurement but think of myself as 12 stone. Yup. But lbs too
    In summer a warm day is often expressed in Fahrenheit but in winter I think in Celsius. Wut the what now?

    I know - strange. :neutral:

    Also cm, metres and miles

    And you spelled metres correctly :wink: