# British weight: what does "st" mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 11, 2003, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weight-what-does-st-mean/181225 "2003-06-11T23:25:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weight-what-does-st-mean/181225/1 "2003-06-11T23:25:43Z")
In the book _James Bond: The Legacy_, it is quoted that they wanted the first actor who played Bond (which, of course, became Sean Connery) to be “about 12st.” What does “st.” mean, and what is 1st. equal to in kilograms (UK) and pounds (US). ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weight-what-does-st-mean/181225/2 "2003-06-11T23:29:06Z")
a traditional British unit of weight, rarely used in the U.S. > [@](#): > > [http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/dictS.html#stone](http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/dictS.html#stone) > > Originally the stone varied in size, both from place to place and according to the nature of the item being weighed. A stone of sugar was traditionally 8 pounds, while a stone of wool could be as much as 24 pounds. Eventually the stone was standardized at 14 pounds avoirdupois or approximately 6.350 29 kilograms – a convenient size because it makes the stone equal to exactly 1/2 quarter or 1/8 hundredweight. Today the stone is used mostly for stating the weight of persons or animals. No -s is added for the plural. ---
**Author:** ![JXJohns](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jxjohns/32/469_2.png) [@JXJohns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JXJohns)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weight-what-does-st-mean/181225/3 "2003-06-11T23:29:32Z")
ST = Stone A stone is a measurement of weight One stone weighs 14 pounds. 14 pounds equals 30.8 kilograms ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weight-what-does-st-mean/181225/4 "2003-06-11T23:30:09Z")
One ‘st’ is one ‘stone’, and equals 14 pounds (around 7 kg). Why the Brits use this unit of measurement, I have _no_ idea. ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weight-what-does-st-mean/181225/5 "2003-06-11T23:30:15Z")
Stone, equal to 14 pounds. IIRC 1kg=2.2pounds. You can do the maths yourself 🙂 BTW I’m british, and young, and everyone I know quotes weight in stones and pounds, not pounds or kilograms. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weight-what-does-st-mean/181225/6 "2003-06-11T23:33:40Z")
stone 1 kilogram = 0.158 stone or about 14 lb to the stone. 12 st = 76 kg or 168 lb. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weight-what-does-st-mean/181225/7 "2003-06-11T23:37:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JXJohns \* > 14 pounds equals 30.8 kilograms Not really. 14 pounds equals 6.35 Kg. Otherwise they were looking for an actor who weighed 370 Kg ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weight-what-does-st-mean/181225/8 "2003-06-11T23:38:44Z")
Thanks for the input. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weight-what-does-st-mean/181225/9 "2003-06-11T23:58:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Blake \* > 1 kilogram = 0.158 stone I believe this is wrong > [@](#): > > or about 14 lb to the stone. I believe this is wrong too. I believe one stone is defined as 14 lb _exactly_ and the pound in turn is defined as exactly 453.59237 grams which would make one stone approximately 6.35 Kg or 1 Kg _approximately_ 0.157473 stone. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weight-what-does-st-mean/181225/10 "2003-06-12T00:06:09Z")
I saw a documentary about Al Capone on the History Channel. It included some clips in black and white that I think were shot in the 50s. They gave the weight of his armored car in stones - not pounds. That suggests that at some time in the fairly recent past the stone was a commonly used unit of weight in the US also. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weight-what-does-st-mean/181225/11 "2003-06-12T00:22:58Z")
OK Sailor, so 1 kg is app .157473 stone. Or .1575 st to 4 places. Or .158 st to 3 places. What is it you believe is wrong again? I’ve seen some nitpicking in my time, but saying that something is wrong because the working hasn’t been rounded to sufficent decimal places for your liking takes the cake. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weight-what-does-st-mean/181225/12 "2003-06-12T00:26:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Blake \* > \*\*OK Sailor, so 1 kg is app .157473 stone. Or .1575 st to 4 places. Or .158 st to 3 places. > > What is it you believe is wrong again? > > I’ve seen some nitpicking in my time, but saying that something is wrong because the working hasn’t been rounded to sufficent decimal places for your liking takes the cake. \*\* What is wrong is that > [@](#): > > 1 kilogram = 0.158 stone or about 14 lb to the stone. implies 1 Kg = 0.158 stone _exactly_, which is not true, and 14 lbs approximately, which is also not true. It is not a matter of rounding anything. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weight-what-does-st-mean/181225/13 "2003-06-12T00:30:48Z")
Yeah, likeantone said it equaled 0.158 exactly. Whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weight-what-does-st-mean/181225/14 "2003-06-12T00:38:01Z")
You did. Or at least you implied it, **Blake**. You could have said "14 lb = 1 stone, so .158 stone is about 1 kg. And your rounding skills are pretty weak. Yes, it’s .1575 to four places, but to three you round from the original number and get .157 kiliograms. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weight-what-does-st-mean/181225/15 "2003-06-12T00:46:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by amarone \* > \*\*I saw a documentary about Al Capone on the History Channel. It included some clips in black and white that I think were shot in the 50s. They gave the weight of his armored car in stones - not pounds. That suggests that at some time in the fairly recent past the stone was a commonly used unit of weight in the US also. \*\* I find that very surprising. I do not think the stone was used in the USA as a unit of weight and even in the UK it would be used for persons but not for cars. maybe there is some confusion or maybe the producers were trying to sound quaint or something. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weight-what-does-st-mean/181225/16 "2003-06-12T05:39:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shade \* > \*\*BTW I’m british, and young, and everyone I know quotes weight in stones and pounds, not pounds or kilograms. \*\* And I’m Australian, youngish (33), and the story is similar here. I was born after the conversion to the metric system, yet it is only recently that I’ve felt comfortable using kilograms and centimetres for human measurement. I’m more comfortable simply saying I’m “17 stone”. Actually, no I’m bloody not! Whaddamisaying? Holy Shee-it, it’s time to get some exercise. ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weight-what-does-st-mean/181225/17 "2003-06-12T06:34:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TheLoadedDog \* > \*\*And I’m Australian, youngish (33), and the story is similar here. I was born after the conversion to the metric system, yet it is only recently that I’ve felt comfortable using kilograms and centimetres for human measurement. I’m more comfortable simply saying I’m “17 stone”. Actually, no I’m bloody not! Whaddamisaying? Holy Shee-it, it’s time to get some exercise. \*\* lol (I’m not sure if quoting weights in kg is even becoming more common, though it’d make sense. I always use SI for any scientific measurement.) ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weight-what-does-st-mean/181225/18 "2003-06-12T12:39:48Z")
So, are your scales marked that way? Or do they just have pounds and everyone has to divide by 14 in their heads? ---
**Author:** ![curly\_chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@curly\_chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curly_chick)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weight-what-does-st-mean/181225/19 "2003-06-12T12:50:23Z")
Scales are marked in stoes, with fourteen graduations between the stones. Usually, they are marked in kg as well, but I only ever refer to kilos if am talking to the shipping manager in work. The only hard thing to work out in your head is when you hear an American saying they weigh 175 pounds. Dividing by fourteen is not something I’m too good at. ---
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weight-what-does-st-mean/181225/20 "2003-06-12T13:04:52Z")
A small note: I would have thought that we use stones for the same reason all the Imperial measurement ended up being used: they are convenient. On average (at least in the past) an average weight of a person would have been about 10 stone. How much nicer than saying 65kg or 140lb. Similarly, it is simpler for a person to comprehend their height at 5 (feet) than it is 60 inches or 150cm (or 1.5m). People generally prefer small numbers in the 5 to 15 kind of range. This is all my opinion, of course. I have nothing to back it up but there seems to be some logic in it. pan [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weight-what-does-st-mean/181225.md?page=2)