End the mystery, how much is a "stone"?

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Replies

  • mikeschratz
    mikeschratz Posts: 253 Member
    See, what are friend for... and then you would laugh your arses off... gotta love having friends and not google...
  • DawnPerks
    DawnPerks Posts: 14 Member
    I'm English and I was brought up with stones, pounds and ounces as weight measurements. I have a hard time figuring things out in kilogram or gram - mainly because I can't visualise it in my head.

    I have the same issue with length measurements - I was brought up on feet and inches so metres and centimetres are lost on me. Mind you, my husband still likes to convert money to pounds, shillings and pence...lol

    One thing that helps me is that I know a bag of sugar weighs a kg/2.2lb so that gives me a kind of reference but I'd still rather see the weight in 'old fashioned money' - as my husband would say..:smile:
  • newtattie
    newtattie Posts: 47 Member
    Just to join in - 14 lbs.

    Most people form the UK measure their weigth in stones and lbs. So for example if I am asked my weight I would say "14 stone 10" with the "10" being the lbs. Now thanks to mfp I would answer "13 stone 11"

    When I watch the US version of Biggest Loser my son sits with a calculator to convert the lbs into stones as it means more to us.

    Yep - we do that we our phones - its a guestimate at first then a race to see who gets the right weight first
  • Solly123
    Solly123 Posts: 162 Member
    I'm from Ireland and we are "gone metric" since the early 70's, but most people still weigh themselves in stones & lbs.

    Took me a while to grasp the "only lbs" here on MFP.

    As for Kilo's - not a notion..

    All our sign posts etc are now gone to Kilometres & our cars speedometers are in kilometres - but everyone over the age of 30 it still calculating in miles.. I know 100km/ph is about 70 m/ph. I know when I've walked a mile - no idea when I've walked a kilometre.. Lol...

    I'm also still trying to work out the cm for measuring horses.. Someone tells me their horse is 170cm - I've no idea is it big or small - but say 16.3hh and I'll know exactly..

    So hard to grasp visually these changed measuring systems.....
  • HeidiRene
    HeidiRene Posts: 335 Member
    This is a fascinating thread - exactly what I was hoping for! I love learning about other cultures.
  • Johnnyswife
    Johnnyswife Posts: 1,447 Member
    Stone is a European measurement of weight. It used to vary from village to village before settling on about 14 lbs. It is no longer a "recognized" form of measurement, but is still used informally in some areas. It is especially common in Scotland and outlying areas of Europe. (P.S. I am American, but I am also one of those people to keep handy when you are playing Trivial Pursuit) :smokin:
    Congrats on losing 13.3 stones! :) I think I calculated that properly.. I actualy like it when people use that word in weight loss. Not sure why, other than its different.
  • MrsR0SE
    MrsR0SE Posts: 313 Member
    The other problem I have with measuring weight just in pounds is I keep thinking people are talking about money...... Eg. I lost one hundred pounds! Or was that £100?
  • Cath2008malteser
    Cath2008malteser Posts: 7
    Hi , I'm from the U.K. Wales to be exact a stone is 14 lbs(pounds) it's a measurement us Brits use to weigh ourselves, hope this helps
  • viclee1
    viclee1 Posts: 156 Member
    thank goodness for this post! I've always wondered!
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