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The three countries that don't use the metric system

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PlasmaBomb said:
There are 14 lb in a stone - therefore 14 stone is 196 lb, if that is any help to you.
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In other words 14 stone is definitely too heavy to date. Got it ^_^

It seems funny Brits compare women to rocks and other heavy objects
"oh she's about 2 refrigerators in size"
 
ShawnD1 said:
In other words 14 stone is definitely too heavy to date. Got it ^_^

It seems funny Brits compare women to rocks and other heavy objects
"oh she's about 2 refrigerators in size"
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No. Stone is a measurement used in the imperial measurement system. But americans found more than one unit of measure confusing. Do you guys say "oh my house is about 15 thousand feet that way"...? when there are miles to be used, Because it's as retarded as saying that "I weigh 150 pounds" when there is stone to be used.
 
HAL9000 said:
No. Stone is a measurement used in the imperial measurement system. But americans found more than one unit of measure confusing. Do you guys say "oh my house is about 15 thousand feet that way"...? when there are miles to be used, Because it's as retarded as saying that "I weigh 150 pounds" when there is stone to be used.
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Yeah, saying 150 pounds is retarded when you could say you weigh 10.7142857 stones.
 
Yeah, saying 150 pounds is retarded when you could say you weigh 10.7142857 stones.
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What, then, is the point of having stones if you're not going to use it? After all, 150 is a fairly nice, round number, and it's bound to be used often.
 
QueBert said:
How do you know that? I weigh 210 exactly. This was measured using a doctors scale that does down to ounces. Since 1 stone = 14 lbs, it's going to be a far less accurate measurement.
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You think ounces as the smallest integer unit is accurate enough for weight?

Say I weight 100.35kg, how do you represent that in lb and oz?

And did you know that lb is defined in kilograms?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_%28mass%29

"A number of different definitions have been used, the most common today being the international avoirdupois pound which is legally defined as exactly 0.45359237 kilograms."
 
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Howard said:
Grams wouldn't be, either. This discussion goes nowhere.
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grams is a lot closer than ounces. like 28.3495231 times.


Just so you get the context, I am responding to this. I don't really care what units you want to use, but to think you don't need decimals for exact weight is ludicrous...

ShawnD1 said:
That's what I was thinking. If I need to use decimal places to accurately describe my weight, then something is definitely wrong.
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QueBert said:
How do you know that? I weigh 210 exactly. This was measured using a doctors scale that does down to ounces. Since 1 stone = 14 lbs, it's going to be a far less accurate measurement.
Click to expand...
 
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QueBert said:
Yeah, saying 150 pounds is retarded when you could say you weigh 10.7142857 stones.
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What's retarded is chiding someone for using a different system from you... when you can't even stick to one system yourself.

But that's our Hal.
 
Just out of curiosity, what does Europe do for lumber sizes?

We have 2x4s here, what are they called in Europe, or don't they use lumber?
 
I wish we would switch. It makes much more sence. I use metric almost everday in the engineering field working on foreign projects. It will never catch on in America though because i dont think people can relate to it in terms of perception. When someone says 10' i can imagine what that is in my head. When someone says 3048mm i just go 😱 even though they are the same thing. Im sure if we taught it in schools it would eventaully catch on as older generations die out, but even then i think its a tough sell.
 
soulcougher73 said:
I wish we would switch. It makes much more sence. I use metric almost everday in the engineering field working on foreign projects. It will never catch on in America though because i dont think people can relate to it in terms of perception. When someone says 10' i can imagine what that is in my head. When someone says 3048mm i just go 😱 even though they are the same thing. Im sure if we taught it in schools it would eventaully catch on as older generations die out, but even then i think its a tough sell.
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I tend to (gently) disagree: I lived in Japan for the better part of a decade where, with the exception of certain cultural measures like a Tsubo (= 1 tatami mat), they are wholly Metric. I didn't have a problem with the system once I had enough time with it to relate a measure to personal experience. i.e. - Once I internalized that 185cm was how tall I am, and got a feel for how fast 50kph/100kph was, etc.. it really wasn't much of an issue.

It's really just a matter of living it for a while.
 
Scotteq said:
I tend to (gently) disagree: I lived in Japan for the better part of a decade where, with the exception of certain cultural measures like a Tsubo (= 1 tatami mat), they are wholly Metric. I didn't have a problem with the system once I had enough time with it to relate a measure to personal experience. i.e. - Once I internalized that 185cm was how tall I am, and got a feel for how fast 50kph/100kph was, etc.. it really wasn't much of an issue.

It's really just a matter of living it for a while.
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How fast is 100kph?
 
As a toolmaker-machinist, I had to regularly work in inches or millimeters, and with a cheap
hand held calculator I could effortless convert one unit to another. So I can in that sense say, neither system is better or worse, they are just different. Take away my calculator, then the metric system is way easier because in operates on switching decimal places in base 10.

But for some one like an auto mechanic having two systems is a curse, on one hand they can interchangeably use a 13 mm wrench or a 1/2 inch wrench, but most wrenches of other sizes won't interchange. So the mechanic is buying two sets of expensive wrenches and sockets when only one would due if we had only one universal worldwide measurement system.

But the biggest stupidity on this thread is this crap that if I weigh 150 pounds I would weigh 10.71428571 stones. The point is + or minus 0.00000001 stones is only only a milligram. The amount of air in your lungs makes you weight vary more than that. Not to mention the fact there are few if any measuring devices on the planet that will measure your weight as precisely as that. Which is why we have to understand the use significant figures of measurement in our statements. How precisely can we put a valid number on things in the real world.
 
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