# How much does a "stone" weigh? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 4, 2007, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647 "2007-01-04T04:32:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/21 "2007-01-04T09:59:10Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] Yes, but an imperial pound is the same as an “English” pound. Isn’t it? :self-doubts: [/QUOTE] Gold, or feathers? Seriously, yes, UK and US pounds are the same - I was just being a tiny bit anal about what might be perceived as a generalisation that UK ‘Imperial’ always means the same as US ‘English’. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/22 "2007-01-04T10:26:11Z")
Tangental, but there is no better conversion application than Josh Madison’s [Convert](http://joshmadison.net/software/convert/). You can convert stone to pennyweight, attojoules to poundal-feet, or just about any other known measurement to any other related unit. It could only be better if it could do real-time currency conversion… ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/23 "2007-01-04T10:59:20Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] Side note: the plural of stone (weight) is “stone”. At least venaculararilarily. [/QUOTE] A slight nitpick. I believe you mean _vernaculararilarily_. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/24 "2007-01-04T11:27:48Z")
[QUOTE=Chez Guevara] A slight nitpick. I believe you mean _vernaculararilarily_. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Damn, hoist with my own pederast. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/25 "2007-01-04T12:08:39Z")
[QUOTE=Celyn] I’m sure my mother, for example thinks in terms of pints of milks, pounds of sugar etc, even if what she actually buys in is litres or kilogrammes. Oh, not me, me is far too young. Believe that if you like. 😃 [/QUOTE] I’m not _that_ old, but I still think of buying milk in pints. Maybe that’s because I can, with a doorstep delivery 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/26 "2007-01-04T12:45:40Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] I’m not _that_ old, but I still think of buying milk in pints. [/QUOTE] I think of buying milk in bottles or cartons. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/27 "2007-01-04T12:45:54Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] I’m not _that_ old, but I still think of buying milk in pints. Maybe that’s because I can, with a doorstep delivery 😛 [/QUOTE] I don’t think you can even buy milk in litre bottles in the UK. Pints of milk are one of a handful of traditional measures that were exempted from the metrication laws. Pints of beer in pubs are another. ---
**Author:** ![rocksolid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@rocksolid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocksolid)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/28 "2007-01-04T13:14:56Z")
[QUOTE=Alive At Both Ends] I don’t think you can even buy milk in litre bottles in the UK. Pints of milk are one of a handful of traditional measures that were exempted from the metrication laws. Pints of beer in pubs are another. [/QUOTE] Sure you can. In fact i think you’ll find that most firms quietly changed to metric a while back. I say quietly other than the ‘cha-ching’ noise that their accounts departments made when they realised that they could reduce the amount of milk they sold without changing the price and everybody would just curse those Eurocrats without it occuring to them that there was a devious little profiteering excercise going on by the milk producers. I’m pretty sure that most milk volumes are metric now, and by that i don’t mean pints marked as 568ml, i mean 500ml, 1litre etc. Like i said, leave the price as it is and take out 68ml, what a great opportunity! ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/29 "2007-01-04T13:29:47Z")
[QUOTE=rocksolid] Sure you can. In fact i think you’ll find that most firms quietly changed to metric a while back. I say quietly other than the ‘cha-ching’ noise that their accounts departments made when they realised that they could reduce the amount of milk they sold without changing the price and everybody would just curse those Eurocrats without it occuring to them that there was a devious little profiteering excercise going on by the milk producers. I’m pretty sure that most milk volumes are metric now, and by that i don’t mean pints marked as 568ml, i mean 500ml, 1litre etc. Like i said, leave the price as it is and take out 68ml, what a great opportunity! [/QUOTE] Perhaps **Alive At Both Ends** was referring to doorstep deliveries. I can remember a taller bottle used to deliver milk to our house before we changed to buying it from supermarkets with the rest of our shopping, were those taller bottles a litre in size? I’m sure they were but I’ll confirm this weekend. ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/30 "2007-01-04T13:36:37Z")
Intensive research in my fridge reveals a milk bottle labelled “1.136 litres; 2 pints” (bought at my local Budgens store). But I admit I had to go and check. If I’m wrong about litre bottles, well, it’s not the first time. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/31 "2007-01-04T13:40:41Z")
I think it varies from store to store, but I’m sure I’ve seen ordinary fresh/pasteurised milk in plastic bottles in multiples of whole litres somewhere (with 1 litre as the smallest size - no single pint approximation), as well as similar plastic bottles in multiples of pints elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/32 "2007-01-04T13:47:35Z")
\ [QUOTE=Chez Guevara] That’s because we still live in The Stone Age. [/QUOTE] \ **You** live in the Stone Age? At least you guys actually use the metric system. Here in the states the mere mention of anything metric sends people into seizures. Someday we’ll join the more enlightened and get on with metric. Someday. _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/33 "2007-01-04T13:52:02Z")
[check it out!](http://www.onlineconversion.com/weight_all.htm) lots of obscure weight units there. I’m 3084428.116 centigrams and 17 quartern-loafs! this is fun! ---
**Author:** ![rocksolid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@rocksolid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocksolid)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/34 "2007-01-04T13:53:28Z")
Dunno how enlightened we are really. We have a strange hybrid system here. Somethings are metric, others imperial. I find it pretty stupid considering. When i was at school everything was taught in metric, but try getting anyone to think about speed or distance in kilometres (all road signs are still in miles). Or try getting a joiner to talk about timber sizes in mm. And does anybody actually know their height and weight in metric? Doubt it. Bah. ---
**Author:** ![rocksolid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@rocksolid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocksolid)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/35 "2007-01-04T13:56:23Z")
Oh, by the way, i’ll conceed the point about milk bottles depending on producer. I was looking at my Robert Wiseman 500ml ‘pint’ when i posted. Most of the supermarkets up here are in 500ml/1000ml increments too but i accept others vary. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/36 "2007-01-04T14:27:48Z")
[QUOTE=SurrenderDorothy] I’m 3084428.116 centigrams and 17 quartern-loafs! [/QUOTE] You only weigh 68 pounds? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/37 "2007-01-04T14:51:15Z")
[QUOTE=rocksolid] …Or try getting a joiner to talk about timber sizes in mm. … [/QUOTE] They’re aliens anyway - even the imperial measurements by which they refer to timber (for example 2-by-2) aren’t the _actual dimensions, now_, they’re the dimensions it _used to be_ - the approximate dimensions of the rough-sawn stock _before it was dried and planed_ - that’s a whole ‘nother’ level of daft. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/38 "2007-01-04T14:59:39Z")
[QUOTE=rocksolid] Dunno how enlightened we are really. We have a strange hybrid system here. Somethings are metric, others imperial. I find it pretty stupid considering. [/QUOTE] Forgive me for harping on about my favourite sport but is a furlong used in any sphere other than horse racing? ---
**Author:** ![Shrinking\_Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Shrinking\_Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shrinking_Violet)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/39 "2007-01-04T15:06:49Z")
[QUOTE=duffer] Stone = 14 pounds. (English pound? What is the official name of the measurement?) [/QUOTE] I think the phrase you’re looking for is pounds [avoirdupois](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avoirdupois). ---
**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:** [January 4, 2007, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/40 "2007-01-04T15:16:57Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] They’re aliens anyway - even the imperial measurements by which they refer to timber (for example 2-by-2) aren’t the _actual dimensions, now_, they’re the dimensions it _used to be_ - the approximate dimensions of the rough-sawn stock _before it was dried and planed_ - that’s a whole ‘nother’ level of daft. [/QUOTE] Tell me about it. And the Ontario Building Code I deal with is in metric. At least we Canadians get our milk in litres. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647.md?page=3)