Imperial measures were not about scale. They were about picking something one can easily relate to and then use that to express the quantity. If one needs more

Imperial measures were not about scale. They were about picking something one can easily relate to and then use that to express the quantity. If one needs more then 2 digits, one pick up a new thing as a reference. For more precision halve or quarter was used, as they were easily relate to, than decimal fractions. And for even more precision bigger units were serving as a common base to subtract with smaller units to express variations from the base. For example one uses inches to measure things one can handle with hands as the inch is related to fingers. Then one use feet to measure size of houses. For a height of a person one uses 5 feet as a base (in past height outside that was much less common in adults) and inches to express the difference from the base. From that point of view measuring the weight of person in pounds is a wrong way to apply imperial system as it requires 3 digits. It used to be stones. Typically one can guess a person weight in stones with no problem. And even when dieting a change of weight in one pound is mostly noise. The real change is more on the scale of quarter/third of stone.