If her weight had been 158 pounds, she would have said, "11 stones and 4 pounds".
I looked up stone measurement information and found out that it was historically used for weighing agricultural commodities, such as potatoes. The potatoes would be sold in stone (14 lb.) and half stone (7 lb.) bags.
The stone measurement is no longer officially used for anything, but it is widely used casually in the UK (and in Australia and New Zealand) for body weight. I have heard it on TV here as well as in conversation. (Medically, the unit of measure for body weight is the kilogram.)
I think I would rather tell my weight in "stones", too, because the number sounds much better!!
I posted the blog early this morning, and then on my walk today, I found this scale at the charity shop, so I had to add the photo! I had been wanting one to see how I am doing on weight as well as to weigh suitcases for our airplane trips. I thought it was really neat with a display for 3 types of weight----stone measurement on the top, pounds in the second row, and kilograms on the bottom! Now I can see if what I bought at the bakery is offset by carrying the scales home in my backpack! Maybe the scales in the backpack should be a permanent feature! (I am not sure about the duck design!)
4 comments:
Maybe I should start that at the gym! I think it'd make people feel better about themselves to have a 2 digit # associated with their weight! ;)
When I was in Scotland I picked up the equivalent of a People magazine and had to ask someone about the reference to a celebrity's weight in stones. Weird!
Caleb - What size bowling balls do you use? ;)
The scale is cool! You won't ever forget your time in England with that scale in your house!
I guess a "stone's throw" is a shorter distance there than it is here in Texas.
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