memes @lemmy.world The Picard Maneuver @lemmy.world 6mo ago

We may never know

76 comments

Wait a minute... Does the name of the currency come from payments that were not counted but weighed? Gotta check.

ETA: Oh my gosh yes, one pound sterling (currency) was originally one pound (weight) of sterling silver. I'm probably the last person to discover this, but still that's pretty cool.
- you’re one of today’s lucky 10,000
  
  I’m also among those 10,000! Good day to be alive.
  
  Such a wholesome XKCD
- What does ETA stand for in this context?
  
  Edited To Add. The constant barrage of TLAs is exhausting.
- If anyone is the last, it's me. Thank you.
- You are at worst second to last. You also thought about the possibility first, unlike me.
And then you ask their weight, and they start talking about rocks.
- Then you ask about rocks and
  
  JESUS CHRIST MARIE, THEY’RE MINERALS!
  
  Maybe I'm just being dense rn, but... huh?
- Apparently the UK still uses stone as a step above pounds. Then again, the UK is a hot mess when it comes to units...
  
  Yep, I'm about 13 stone 1. Which I know is about 83kg. But I have no idea how many pounds in a stone. I do know that there's about 2 and a quarter lb to a kg. Therefore I must be about 186lb.
  
  I know they use mph. Do they use km for distance or miles? I think they use meters for shorter distances so I've no clue.
- You ask an American how much they weigh, and they tell you in money. Typical American capitalism.
- Four score and seven stone = 1218 pounds
  
  EDIT: Whoopsie, forgot to include the 7 before multiplying, it's actually 1316.
  
  Google says 87 stones = 1218 pounds so I think you got it right the first time?
Do Brits also tell their salary on annual instead of monthly basis? I thought that was just an American thing
- Where do they describe it on a monthly basis? I'm in Australia and I've never heard anyone describe their salary in anything other than annual. Take home pay we'd go fortnightly though.
  
  Over here in Belgium we do, I thought that's how it's done in most countries. It makes more sense to me too, you get your salary monthly (or maybe fortnightly like you) and you talk about your rent, debt payments, ... also on a monthly basis.
  
  Slovakia, Czechia, Hungary no one in these countries talks on annual basis. it's always monthly or hourly wage if it's not a salaried position, but most are salaried and paycheck is once a month.
  
  Most of Europe uses monthly take home. Yearly brutto salary doesn't mean shit, you can't budget against it.
  
  In Austria we usually also speak about monthly payments
  
  In Serbia as well. Whenever someone mentions an annual salary, I have to divide it by 12 to get some sense out of it, because we only talk about the monthly.
- Australia is also annual. We're taxed annually, so it makes sense to us
- Lived in London for twenty years and I've only heard it annual or if you're a contractor we talk daily rate.
I can’t imagine a scenario where a British person actually says their salary as “pounds” rather than “grand” or just the number.
- 1 grand is the same as 1 kilo? So it's still weight.
  
  1 kilopound
- What if they want to say how much it weighs and they have an imperial units fetish?
  
  Then we'd refer to it in Stones...
Did they say they make about five thousand stone?
- How many pounds are those stones?
- With a few pebbles but yes
You have to convert it to Newtons assuming gravity at mean sea level.
££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££

76 comments