Feet inches stones and pounds

[Griff]

Depends whether they US pounds or Imperial pounds.

[Griff]

Which is heavier ?   An ounce of gold or an ounce of feathers ?

Ounce of gold.

Which is heavier ?  A pound of gold or a pound of feathers ?

Pound of feathers.

[Big Picture]

1 hour ago, Griff said:

Depends whether they US pounds or Imperial pounds.

Their pounds are the same, but their fluid ounces, cups, pints, quarts and gallons are all different.

[Futtocks]

Never mind that; is a tosheroon a crown or a half-crown?

[Griff]

33 minutes ago, Big Picture said:

Their pounds are the same, but their fluid ounces, cups, pints, quarts and gallons are all different.

Well, that's Americans for you.

[Manxmanc]

I thought it was a crown, but it's some time since I've used one. 

I assume we're talking about British coinage, as opposed to Irish half-crowns.

 

 

[Futtocks]

11 minutes ago, Manxmanc said:

I thought it was a crown, but it's some time since I've used one. 

I assume we're talking about British coinage, as opposed to Irish half-crowns.

tosheroon (plural tosheroons)

1. (Britain, archaic slang) A half-crown coin; its value 
2. (Britain, obsolete slang) A crown coin; its value 

[Ullman]

5 hours ago, arcticchris said:

I have my bike gps set to kph as it seems faster and it’s also the international language of cycling. Also why terms like peloton and grupetto are routinely used by English language commentators despite them being French and Italian words respectively.

 

 

You're fooling nobody but yourself  

[Padge]

7 hours ago, DavidM said:

Maybe me , probably is , but it always sounds ridiculous to me when someone’s height is described in centimetres . Give me feet n inches please . And kilometres is one other I don’t get . Our roads n stuff is in miles so don’t talk to me in kilometres - endless tv programmes do this . Surely this is why we voted for brexit - enough of this nonsense !!

But we kept miles, pints etc. Brexit has nothing to do with it and being in the EU has nothing to do with going metric.

[Robthegasman]

I often use both imperial and metric.

Personally I wish we would use one system or another.Whichever one it might be.

[Manxmanc]

1 hour ago, Futtocks said:

tosheroon (plural tosheroons)

1. (Britain, archaic slang) A half-crown coin; its value 
2. (Britain, obsolete slang) A crown coin; its value 

Very interesting. I wonder whether common usage has varied over time.

I see tosheroon used as a crown in 1859, whereas George Orwell used the word in Down and Out in Paris and London for half a crown. I also see there was a variant, tusheroon, also used in 1859. 

To cap it all there is evidence of half a tosheroon being used for half a crown.

You have rightly pointed out the minefield that is the tosheroon, for which I offer many thanks, and quite properly the topic puts in the shade other threads on this forum.

[Padge]

1 hour ago, Griff said:

Well, that's Americans for you.

And because Yanks don't understand international standards they sent up into space a blind telescope.

[Blind side johnny]

23 hours ago, Big Picture said:

No, metric is for everyone because the relationships between units are all consistent unlike the dog's breakfast which is imperial measurement.

Metric is based upon units of ten, of course, which naturally relates to the digits of two hands. Anyone who suggests that the base of twelve originated in Leigh is being most unfair upon the denizens of that town.

[Big Picture]

On 20/09/2020 at 13:41, Griff said:

Well, that's Americans for you.

No it's not all of us Americans, it's just the Usonians.

[TIWIT]

On 20/09/2020 at 10:38, Blind side johnny said:

Nobody advocating a return to pounds, shillings and pence then?

I was a scientist/technologist all of my working life so happily worked with the various metric systems in operation yet still tend to think in pounds/ounces and feet/yards in "normal" life. Most human brains are quite flexible really: if yours isn't then....................................

You've found a home here then.

[TIWIT]

On 20/09/2020 at 12:14, Griff said:

Which is heavier ?   An ounce of gold or an ounce of feathers ?

Ounce of gold.

Which is heavier ?  A pound of gold or a pound of feathers ?

Pound of feathers.

Given a choice, I'll take the gold over the feathers every time

 

[TIWIT]

On 20/09/2020 at 12:00, Big Picture said:

Is that an imperial gallon or a US gallon?

Depends on whether it's Imperial water or American water.

[Wolford6]

1. Shoe sizes are still measured in barleycorns.

Proper British barleycorns that obviously only grow to one size, whatever the weather and temperature.

2. Even the metricators mess about with standard measurement regimes. First there was the cgs system, then the MKS system and now the SI system.

It's a French plot. Probably because their leaders from Napoleon through Sarkozy to Macron wanted units that didn't make them sound like short a r s e s.

 

[Bostik Bailey]

On 20/09/2020 at 13:09, Big Picture said:

Complaints about metric are just weird.  Metric is superior to primitive measurement systems, that's the reason why other than a few holdouts in the Anglosphere, every country in the world uses it.

Whilst I totally agree that metric is superior, it is in general an arbitrary system. All the imperial measurements have an approximate physical equivalent, yard, furlong etc.  

[Blind side johnny]

2 hours ago, Bostik Bailey said:

Whilst I totally agree that metric is superior, it is in general an arbitrary system. All the imperial measurements have an approximate physical equivalent, yard, furlong etc.  

All systems of measurement are, by their very nature, arbitrary. Even time is not a constant, as evidenced by that lightning fast winger when he signs for your own side.

[Ullman]

On 20/09/2020 at 11:12, Futtocks said:

There was a crossword clue about a 22-yard vendor, where the answer was "chain store". A chain being that length, or a tenth of a furlong. I had to explain to a young and thoroughly metric Aussie colleague that this was the measurement of a cricket pitch. I felt like Catweazle!

Still in use on the rail network. As is often the case I was waiting ages for three trains to go through Broomfleet level crossing this morning. With nothing better to do than read the signs I can reliably inform you that Broomfleet LC is 14miles 33 chains from Hull Paragon.

[The Rocket]

On 20/09/2020 at 20:01, Dunbar said:

I agree. Even though I know 195cm and 120kgs is big it just doesn't really resonate with me... but 6' 5" and 18 and a half stone is massive in my mind!

Manly have locked up for three years their replacement for Aidan Fonua-Blake.  The 197cm and 123kg,  22 year old  Taniela Paseka.   I think that he falls safely into your category of " massive ".

[Dunbar]

39 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

Manly have locked up for three years their replacement for Aidan Fonua-Blake.  The 197cm and 123kg,  22 year old  Taniela Paseka.   I think that he falls safely into your category of " massive ".

Yes, he is 6' 6" and 19st. Massive!

[DC77]

On 20/09/2020 at 20:02, Padge said:

But we kept miles, pints etc. Brexit has nothing to do with it and being in the EU has nothing to do with going metric.

The EU did push for exclusively a metric system here though (“must have have it by X number of years”) and only abandoned it in 2007 when they realised it was never going to happen. Brexit will have put a final nail in the coffin. 

Miles and yards for distance, weight in stone and pounds, height in feet and inches, it’s too entrenched here for it to change. Tell someone your height is 1 metre 68 centimetres, or you weigh 68 kg, or that you are travelling 70 km, you will generally get blank stares. Distances in metres most can grasp (as well as being taught in school the athletics track has helped massively with that)..so 1 metre up to the 10k run. Weirdly if you said you are travelling 10 km in your car, it wouldn’t register. 

Rugby league followers here are quite unique in being more accustomed to metric in that Australia is the dominant rugby league nation, so a lot of their metric usage appears in the game here. The 10 metre line, is that an Aussie concept? Players heights given in centimetres, weight in kg (RU is the same I believe). Football being my main sport I rarely come across such usage. Klopp (coming from Germany) has since adapted to the Premier League in speaking in yards...”6 yard box, 12 yard penalty spot, shot from 20 yards” etc. Must be weird for the likes of him seeing road signs in miles though.

 

 

[derk]

do not forget who started the metric system.the french under  bonaparte. they wanted a ten day week as well. i dont know how long weekends would have been. stick to ounces,pounds bushels and pecks ,to name but a few