"stone"

This topic contains 8 replies, has 7 voices, and was last updated by dlroseberry 10 years, 7 months ago.

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dlroseberry

3:52 pm
23 Sep 13
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The word “stone” for 14 pounds is interesting. Is it used for anything or for only specific things being weighed? We don’t use it at all around here (Northwest USA). I don’t think it’s used anywhere in this country. Did we lose it or is it more modern in Britain? Do they use it in Australia or any other English speaking countries? Do they use it in Scotland? I like it, because I’ve always preferred English measure to metric. 12 or 14 are as good numbers as 10 and fractions are better than decimals. It keeps the mind limber to have to use different numbers and denominators and not dependent on decimals. That’s probably why the British are smarter than other Europeans!

StephB

3:56 pm
23 Sep 13
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“That’s probably why the British are smarter than other Europeans!”

Now THERE’S a contentious phrase if ever I heard one! 😉

As far as I’m aware the ‘stone’ is used in all parts of Britain but I’m not aware of its use anywhere else. I actually find it a bit tedious having to divide and multiply by 14 – 10 would be so much simpler!

chilliexx

4:54 pm
23 Sep 13
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Stone i believe is quite an old measurement. Imperial measurements are quite awkward as they are not based on decimal but having grown up knowing nothing else it seems natural to us.

I have to convert kilos to pounds/stones for it to make any sense to me at, same with height no idea of cm and metres for height but know if someone tells me that they are 5ft 10 in what that looks like immediately.

symba7

5:10 pm
23 Sep 13
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Weights: Grains and drams, ounces and pounds, stones and tons.

The basic unit of weight in the British system is the grain – originally based on the weight of a grain of barley (but note that money was based on the grain of wheat – and that three grains of barley weigh the same as four of wheat). This grain is the troy grain – there is no other weight of the same name.

The weight of one grain is constant throughout the many different systems of British weights. As you will see below, the ounce and pound are anything but contstant, but have altered to meet circumstances over a period of over a thousand years.

The avoirdupois pound is the pound in general use today. As its name implies, it was intended to be used for weighing heavy goods. This pound is of 7000 grains, and is split into 16 ounces (each, therefore of 437.5 grains). Each ounce is divided into 16 drams (which my calculator makes of 27.34375 grains each – much more fun than metric isn’t it?).

avoirdupois weights
16 drams = 1 ounce
16 ounces = 1 pound
7 pounds = 1 clove
14 pounds = 1 stone
28 pounds = 1 tod
112 pounds = 1 hundredweight
364 pounds = 1 sack
2240 pounds = 1 ton
2 stones = 1 quarter
4 quarters = 1 hundredweight
20 hundredweight = 1 ton

Found this on Internet any help?

rockyromero

5:40 pm
23 Sep 13
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@dlroseberry
“Do they use it in Australia or any other English speaking countries? ”

The term seems to be widely used in Europe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_(unit)

Trackers seem to measure pounds only, here in the USA.

➰

dlroseberry

8:46 pm
23 Sep 13
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Thanks symba7.

The “grain” I recognize from aspirin and other medicines–all converted to mg over here now (I suppose that’s for the best). And sometimes the 2000 lb. ton that we use is called a short ton–I’ve always presumed because it’s less than the 1000 kg ton, but maybe it’s because it’s less than this 2240 lb. ton. Looks like a tod = a quarter, but are probably used in different contexts.

I suppose we just lost the stone. We’ve lost the “rod” unit of length and the “peck” unit of volume and maybe so have you. Too bad. It’s a system with character that naturally improves peoples ability to do arithmetic computations in their heads. And that ability is important for higher math and maybe for staving off mental decline. Easier is often not better.

SusanCC

2:38 am
24 Sep 13
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Hi

I’m in New Zealand and we used to use the term stone all the time but then converted to the metric system (in the 60’s or 70’s). I still think in stones but find kilos much easier to deal with. 🙂

When I lived in London however, and did the dreaded Weight Watchers for the first time, I had to go back to pounds and stones as that’s the measurement used there.

Susan

TracyJ

5:19 pm
25 Sep 13
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It is weird that we seem to like our imperial measurements but do have all the metric stuff officially imposed by the EU. Everything in the supermarket is weighed & measured in metric and I think even hospitals & doctors surgeries deal in metric but most brits will think in stones and lbs.

At school we measured everything in metric at primary school but when you get into secondary school suddenly your maths problems involve someone trying to work out how far they can get on a train in miles in X amount of time. So bigger distances are always in imperial for me (like my ‘big’ weight) but smaller distances & measurements I understand better in metric (like my 120cm coffee table). Maybe when I get closer to my ideal weight I’ll feel like it’s ‘small’ enough to switch to metric too 😉

dlroseberry

6:00 pm
25 Sep 13
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Here in the US we’ve resisted the metric system. For things where avoiding confusion is critical, like medicine, then metric is the way to go. But I used to have a side job tutoring kids for the SATM, which is the math college entrance exam used in the US and found kids to have problems doing simple arithmetic in their heads, especially fractions. It’s important to master that skill if you’re going to be proficient at algebra or calculus. If your mind is busy trying to figure fractions or punch in numbers on a calculator, then it’s hard to keep track of where you are in the actual math problem. I suppose that computers can do it all, but I think the “mental gymnastics” necessary to use the English system are good “exercise” for the mind.