The reason stones and pounds as well as feet and inches still persist is they are still used in the clothing industry. 
 
If the industry would start to use the pictogram method using centimetre sizing instead of inches, the continued use of old units for body sizing would fade away.  It is obvious that the pictogram method for size labels has either been cancelled or delayed indefinitely.  I've asked many times on this forum as to what is happening and received not one response.  It seems our "leaders" are too embarrassed to tell us the old sizing is going to continue for a long time to come, and with it the old measurements. 
 
Euric
 
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, 2004-09-08 15:42
Subject: [USMA:31052] BBC article mixes units in a unique way

Just saw this article on today's BBC web site. As an American I was taken with the continued primary use of stones to measure mass (and was at least a little relieved to see the equivalent measure limited to kilograms with no mention of pounds in the conversions).
 
Of course, the reference at the beginning of the article to "pounds" I see simply as an alliterative device ("piling on the pounds") which doesn't concern me all that much. (Even in an all metric UK it could still crop up as an _expression_.)
 
Here's the link:
 
 
Ezra

Reply via email to