I'm afraid we've been bamboozled(lemmy.world)

what’s right with it? doesn’t make sense it exists at all. it’s not 10- based obviously, but it’s not even 12- based like other imperial units. it’s 14 pounds! 14? who came up with this shit?

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GiveOver@feddit.uk

1 point

9 days ago

Obviously it’s stupid compared to metric but it’s no worse than the rest of imperial, it’s not all 12 based. There’s 16 or 20 oz in a pint depending on UK or US. 8 pints in a gallon. 3 yards in a foot. It’s all stupid.

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pyre@lemmy.world

1 point

9 days ago

I didn’t compare it to metric though. and yes all your examples are stupid. I just said stone is my favorite because it feels so out of place for me.

you got the foot-yard backwards but at least 3 is a factor of 12. also inch, foot and yard, while impractical in ratios, are somewhat helpful lengths. like you can easily visualize an inch or foot, probably better than a mm or cm.

the pint/gallon was probably backward standardized, in that they were probably measures used for various drinks or cargo and named for those and got roughly standardized with 8x or 3x feeling appropriate. but stone just… exists it feels like. for no practical reason.

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