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Original poster

How do you give your height?

27 replies

OatALot · 09/11/2021 15:45

Only just realised there is a difference between saying feet or feet and inches. So for 172cm you can be 5.64 feet or 5 foot 7.7inches.

OP posts:
Ryannah · 09/11/2021 15:50

Surely you would always say feet and inches? It makes no sense to express feet as a decimal.

dementedpixie · 09/11/2021 15:50

5.64 feet means 5ft and 64/100 of 12 inches which is 7.68 inches giving 5ft 7.7inches roughly

preemadinna · 09/11/2021 16:00

Internet-based conversion sites (or at least the ones that top the Google search results) are strangely limited in their ability to express Imperial measures - I sometimes want to use them for converting kg to stones/pounds or for converting metres to feet/inches but they always express the result as decimals, which makes no sense. I have to use them to convert to pounds or inches instead, then divide by 14 or 12 myself to give a whole number of pounds or inches, plus a remainder. Bit of a faff.

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SheWoreYellow · 09/11/2021 16:01

Feet and inches. No one will understand the other.

preemadinna · 09/11/2021 16:02

*give a whole number of stones or feet, plus a remainder of pounds and inches.

anniegun · 09/11/2021 16:04

cm
I think your example illustrates why we need to move away from Imperial measures . I am 60 and we didn't use Imperial measurements at school so I think we have had long enough to adjust

Original poster
OatALot · 09/11/2021 16:23

I've either grown slightly, am now measuring incorrectly or I've been giving my height as a decimal without realising it.

OP posts:
EileenGC · 09/11/2021 16:25

In centimetres. I still don’t understand the imperial system after years in the UK, and each calculator gives me a different measuring when I try and convert my height.

megletthesecond · 09/11/2021 16:28

Feet and inches.

Original poster
OatALot · 09/11/2021 21:34

I've remeasured a few times and I've been using decimal conversions on Google! I'm nearly 1.5 - 2 inches taller! Great when your very much below average height! (figures above were illustrative).

OP posts:
kowari · 09/11/2021 21:37

Centimetres, or feet and inches if others are using it so they might not understand metric

CiaoForDiNiaoSaur · 09/11/2021 21:40

Feet and inches. I don't know what i am in cms.

eddiemairswife · 09/11/2021 21:49

2.54cm=1inch. 30cm=12in=1ft

SheWoreYellow · 10/11/2021 09:30

@OatALot

I've remeasured a few times and I've been using decimal conversions on Google! I'm nearly 1.5 - 2 inches taller! Great when your very much below average height! (figures above were illustrative).
That’s hilarious! So what was your before height and what’s your real height?
TeenMinusTests · 10/11/2021 10:51

Feet and inches.
DD2 I can do in either, but if I had to give my height in cm I'd have to calculate it first.

Agree with PP, no point in using decimals of a foot.

amusedbush · 10/11/2021 10:55

@anniegun

cm I think your example illustrates why we need to move away from Imperial measures . I am 60 and we didn't use Imperial measurements at school so I think we have had long enough to adjust
I’m 31 and we did use imperial at school. We learned our weight and height in imperial and I’ve always used feet/inches and stones/pounds in relation to people.
Bonnealle · 10/11/2021 10:59

I’m in my 30s, born in the UK and have no idea about imperial measurements, so I always give my height in centimetres.

Elieza · 10/11/2021 11:56

Feet and inches. And 5 feet 8 inches or whatever would be written as 5’8”.

I don’t go below a whole inch though as fractions get tricky. So 5 feet 8 and a half inches would still be 5’8” to me. Anything smaller than an inch isn’t of any significance when measuring height. Unless it’s the height of a hamster or somesuch 🐹!!

If I were to do metric I’d go to whole centimetres also. But I’d need to work it out as I’m old school. Grin

BarbaraofSeville · 10/11/2021 12:05

Feet and inches, and pounds and stones aren't a base 10 system so it makes no sense to express them in decimals.

5' 7 1/2" or 5' 8 is close enough to 172 cm for measuring the height of a person.

supremelybaffled · 10/11/2021 12:08

Feet and inches. 5' 7 1/2".
Which is what I am. Can't get on with cm, I have to convert it back to imperial.

ParmigianoReggiano · 10/11/2021 12:11

But OP, haven't you ever noticed that you were a different height compared to someone else who was also 5 foot 6 inches (or whatever)?

Original poster
OatALot · 10/11/2021 18:32

The example was just an example. My before and after height are both under 5 foot! Plus I was seeing the decimal as inches so thought I was many inches shorter. It was the NHS BMI calculator, I used cm rather than feet and then clicked to feet and the figures where not what I was expecting! Double checked on a few online calculators and saw I was using the decimal! Bloody Google. I'm 41 and have gained some height!

OP posts:
Lockdownbear · 10/11/2021 18:41

I give my height in ft inches and bit 🤪 the bit is very important. Because that's what my DDad measured me as when I was about 17.

I measure my kids in cm because that's what the car seats, clothes and red book uses.

maofteens · 10/11/2021 18:49

Either feet and inches or centimetres. People would misinterpret if you said 5.64 inches

kowari · 10/11/2021 19:00

@Bonnealle

I’m in my 30s, born in the UK and have no idea about imperial measurements, so I always give my height in centimetres.
I'm in my 30s too, never used imperial at school (UK primary nor overseas secondary). I know my height and weight in imperial but prefer metric.