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Origin documented
“Carrying a bit of weight”
What it means
Being somewhat heavier than one might wish.
Where it comes from
Britain describes body weight in stones of fourteen pounds and has never stopped, despite metrication reaching almost everything else. The stone was originally a physical stone kept as a market standard.
How sure are we?
The stone survived because metrication was applied to trade and science rather than to how people describe themselves. Body weight and human height both stayed imperial by simple habit.