Why do the British persist in using stones as a unit of weight? It’s even more archaic than our use of pounds. Our use of pounds isn't archaic. Pounds, pints, gallons, feet, inches, etc. are convenient measurements for which there is no metric equivalent. Perhaps the British feel the same way about measuring weight in stone.
Our use of pounds isn’t archaic. Pounds, pints, gallons, feet, inches, etc. are convenient measurements for which there is no metric equivalent
Our system is based on human-convenient measures. The metric system is based on nature. So water freezes at 0º C, which means a lot of negative numbers in the winter. A foot is based on an average-sized man’s foot. A meter is based on a fraction of an imagined distance from the north pole to the equator. Not quite as handy a yard, which is an average man’s stride. The only advantage that metric brings to the table is easier conversion—all by 10s. But how often do we need to know how many inches are in 2.7 miles?