3 ms·

Imperial is confusing at the best of times, but couldn't they have said 24.5 tons instead of 55,000 lbs?

by ChrisRR 12d ago

masfuerte 12d ago
That's the way they like it. American road signs have mad shit like "No trucks over 15,000 lbs".
- thechao 12d ago
  That's because we measure weight in tonnage.
  - close04 12d ago
    In the EU and UK the weight of the vehicle is on the signs too [0], or the weight per axle [1]. [0] https://hgvlgvtraining.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/weight-limit-traffic-sign-768x188.jpg https://hgvlgvtraining.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/weig... [1] https://freesvg.org/img/B13a.png https://freesvg.org/img/B13a.png
- walthamstow 12d ago
  Surely they don't actually like drill bits measured in fractions of an inch, do they?
  - edoceo 12d ago
    Yes, in USA the bits are in fractions and stuff you purchase will have instructions like, drill 3/8 hole for a wall anchor, or 2+1/4 hole for a door-bolt set.
- dboreham 12d ago
  The American thousands of pounds thing is even more weird than that: I buy gravel from the gravel pit. They weigh my truck and dump trailer in lbs and then charge me per ton. Everyone talks about tons: e.g. I'd call a dump truck operator and ask him to deliver 18 tons of rock, not 36,000lbs. But the weighbridge and road signs and regulations about vehicle and axle weight are always in lbs. If you only read things and never talked to other people you'd never know tons existed.
  - cucumber3732842 12d ago
    A lot of the older "no vehicles over X" signage is denominated in tons.
  - ninalanyon 11d ago
    I wonder if using pounds exclusively stems from a time when the word ton was potentially ambiguous. In both British Imperial and US Customary one ton means 20 hundredweight (20 cwt) but the hundredweight differs between the two countries, 112 lb in Imperial, 100 lb in US Customary resulting in the US Customary ton being the short ton of 2 000 lb and the Imperial ton being the long ton of 2 240 lb. Using only lb avoids confusion.
- hamdingers 12d ago
  This is an is-ought inference. Americans have not been given an option and use the units they're provided with, which is a frustrating mix of everything depending on context. Nobody seems to like it this way.
guenthert 12d ago
They could have said 3300 stones stones ...
- euroderf 12d ago
  That rocks.
  - GJim 11d ago
    It's the weigh I like it.
deleted 12d ago
[deleted]
Xmd5a 12d ago
Sir ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_ton https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_ton > he long ton,[1] also known as the imperial ton, displacement ton,[1][2] or British ton,[3] is a measurement unit equal to 2,240 pounds

Imperial is confusing at the best of times, but couldn't they have said 24.5 tons instead of 55,000 lbs?

by ChrisRR 12d ago

Imperial is confusing at the best of times, but couldn't they have said 24.5 tons instead of 55,000 lbs?

masfuerte 12d ago

That's the way they like it. American road signs have mad shit like "No trucks over 15,000 lbs".

thechao 12d ago
That's because we measure weight in tonnage.
- close04 12d ago
  In the EU and UK the weight of the vehicle is on the signs too [0], or the weight per axle [1]. [0] https://hgvlgvtraining.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/weight-limit-traffic-sign-768x188.jpg https://hgvlgvtraining.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/weig... [1] https://freesvg.org/img/B13a.png https://freesvg.org/img/B13a.png
walthamstow 12d ago
Surely they don't actually like drill bits measured in fractions of an inch, do they?
- edoceo 12d ago
  Yes, in USA the bits are in fractions and stuff you purchase will have instructions like, drill 3/8 hole for a wall anchor, or 2+1/4 hole for a door-bolt set.
dboreham 12d ago
The American thousands of pounds thing is even more weird than that: I buy gravel from the gravel pit. They weigh my truck and dump trailer in lbs and then charge me per ton. Everyone talks about tons: e.g. I'd call a dump truck operator and ask him to deliver 18 tons of rock, not 36,000lbs. But the weighbridge and road signs and regulations about vehicle and axle weight are always in lbs. If you only read things and never talked to other people you'd never know tons existed.
- cucumber3732842 12d ago
  A lot of the older "no vehicles over X" signage is denominated in tons.
- ninalanyon 11d ago
  I wonder if using pounds exclusively stems from a time when the word ton was potentially ambiguous. In both British Imperial and US Customary one ton means 20 hundredweight (20 cwt) but the hundredweight differs between the two countries, 112 lb in Imperial, 100 lb in US Customary resulting in the US Customary ton being the short ton of 2 000 lb and the Imperial ton being the long ton of 2 240 lb. Using only lb avoids confusion.
hamdingers 12d ago
This is an is-ought inference. Americans have not been given an option and use the units they're provided with, which is a frustrating mix of everything depending on context. Nobody seems to like it this way.

guenthert 12d ago

They could have said 3300 stones stones ...

euroderf 12d ago
That rocks.
- GJim 11d ago
  It's the weigh I like it.

deleted 12d ago

[deleted]

Xmd5a 12d ago

Sir ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_ton https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_ton > he long ton,[1] also known as the imperial ton, displacement ton,[1][2] or British ton,[3] is a measurement unit equal to 2,240 pounds