this post was submitted on 28 May 2024
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[–] PowerCrazy@lemmy.ml 4 points 5 months ago (11 children)

Do Europeans really give their height in cm? You'd think they short hand it like to like 1.7m or whatever since height is one of those things that doesn't really need to be exact and will change by a cm or so based on the kind of shoes you are wearing, or wearing shoes at all.

[–] GissaMittJobb@lemmy.ml 20 points 5 months ago

In my native language we say the equivalent of 'one and eighty-five' to refer to 185 cm of height, so basically we give it in meters.

[–] Annoyed_Crabby@monyet.cc 12 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Not europe but yes, we do it in cm. Never heard people rounding up or down to the tenth though, so 164cm is 164cm, not 160cm.

[–] Ethalis@jlai.lu 11 points 5 months ago

In France it's generally in meters with two decimals, so basically the same as giving it in cm

[–] palordrolap@kbin.social 6 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Do North Americans really give their weight in lb? You'd think they'd short hand it like to like 15 stone or whatever since weight is one of those things that doesn't really need to be exact and will change by a lb or so based on the time of day and what you've eaten.

[–] PapaStevesy@midwest.social 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

No, we give our weight in pounds instead of ounces because weight is one of those things that doesn't really need to be exact and will change by a couple dozen ounces or so based on the time of day and what you've eaten.

[–] palordrolap@kbin.social 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

No, see, here ounces compare to millimetres. If height and weight fluctuate over centimetres and pounds, and they do, lesser units should be disregarded, right?

[–] PapaStevesy@midwest.social 3 points 5 months ago

Stone isn't a measurement in America, it's inorganic material. The next-heighest commonly known weight is a ton, or 2000 lbs. Not very helpful.

[–] PowerCrazy@lemmy.ml 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

A better example would be if europeans really gave their weight in grams. I don't think they do, they use kilo's cause they don't really need the precision of a gram for something like that.

[–] billgamesh@lemmy.ml 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

because grams are small, but 174cm makes more sense than 1.7m

[–] PapaStevesy@midwest.social 1 points 5 months ago

"Small" is extremely relative, I'd say centimeters are small too.

[–] WoodenDing@lemm.ee 6 points 5 months ago

Germans do go with meters when talking about their height but they'll give you two decimal places.

[–] CapeWearingAeroplane@sopuli.xyz 4 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

I guess its just because saying "one-seventy-nine" rolls better off the tongue than "one point seventy nine" or "one point eight"

[–] unwarlikeExtortion@lemmy.ml 3 points 5 months ago

You always do it in cm wherever I've been. It's either directly in cm, as in 172 cm or phrased in meters, as in 1.72 m. You cab say you're around 170 cm tall or around 1.7 m tall, but the 'default precision level' is 1 cm

[–] qjkxbmwvz@startrek.website 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Particularly for folks with long spines, height can change significantly throughout the day.

[–] SomeoneElse@lemmy.ca 5 points 5 months ago

I use a wheelchair on occasion - when I’m unwell and use my wheelchair I measure about 3cm taller than when I’m well and have been walking!

[–] chatokun@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 5 months ago

Japan does too, at least from all the manga etc I've read. Not in meters either, just cm.

[–] Linssiili@sopuli.xyz 2 points 5 months ago

When using feet and inches, its fine to use precision of 1 inch as it's much smaller unit than 0.1 m.

If one says that they are 5'11" (180.34 cm), they can be 5'10.5" (179.07 cm) to 5'11.5" (181.61 cm) tall. That's 1.4% variance.

If using meters with one decimal place, and say they are 1.8 m (5'10.9"), they can be 175 cm (5'8.9") to 185 cm (6'0.8") tall. That's 5.6% variance.

Thus it's not really viable to use only one decimal place when using metres as unit, so in many languages it's easier to just say the length in centimeters compared to use two deeimal places.

In German, you'd probably say 1 Metre 85 (Ein Meter Fünfundachtzig), or 1 85 (Eins Fünfundachtzig) to be more brief. I'm relatively certain that it very much differs from language to language, and probably regionally within languages.