Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Still More Things That Are Better Back Home

Body weight measurement.

To start off, however, let me say that the United States did something right: When it rejected the metric system, it rejected everything about it. The British, however, are stuck in this weird in-between zone: Temperature's in degrees celsius, distance is in miles, yards, and feet, but body weight is measured in the rather bizarre, antiquated unit called the stone.

Celsius I can handle. Double it and add 30, in the Bob and Doug McKenzie fashion and you approximate degrees fahrenheit. Pounds to kilogram is divide by 2.2. Miles to kilometers, multiply by 1.6.

But pounds to stone? That requires advanced math. And there's no real reason for it, because I still have to say, "I weigh 11 stone 11 pounds." Why wouldn't I just say, "I weigh 165 pounds"? I'd be just as well off to say how many cubits tall I am, or that I live 40 rods up the hill from the Tube station.

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2 Comments:

Blogger Middle Kid said...

C'mon Smitty! A stone is 14 lbs. or 6.35029318 kg. Everyone knows that!

3:28 PM  
Blogger oldest kid said...

I have to agree with Smitty. Being 11 stone sounds much heavier than 154 lbs.

12:40 PM  

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