Words for body height

Question

I am writing a report on working posture and have a question concerning words for showing body height. When I write descriptions with figures of the relationship between the height of human body and a workbench, are the following words appropriate?

Fig. 1 Tall person
Fig. 2 Small person
Fig. 3 Average height person (right height for the workbench)

Thank you in advance for your help.

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

Fig. 1 Tall person
Fig. 2 Short person
Fig. 3 Person of average height (right height for the workbench)

Best wishes, Clive

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you!

KickingCat · Answer

I have two questions!

1. What is the meassure for f't and m?

2. The weight lbs and kg?

BarbaraPA · Answer

I'm sorry, KickingCat, I don't understand your question.

Height (or distance) is measured in feet (US and I'm told still in England) and meters everywhere else.

Yes, weight is measured in pounds (lbs) and kilograms. But what are you asking about them?

Pastsimple · Answer

Grammar GeekI'm sorry, KickingCat, I don't understand your question.

Height (or distance) is measured in feet (US and I'm told still in England) and meters everywhere else. No, Liberia and Burma aren't metric countries as well.

Yes, weight is measured in pounds (lbs) and kilograms. But what are you asking about them?

Maybe she wants a conversion table.

Well, KickingCat, 1 foot is 12 inches, one inch is 2.54cm. One pound is almost 454 grams --> there are 2.2 pounds in a kilo.

BarbaraPA · Answer

Thanks, Pastsimple, I didn't know that. People always tease Americans because we can't "think" in metric. Good to know that I can get around if I find myself in Liberia as well. I can okay with distances because the conversion is pretty easy, but I'm SO lost when it comes to temperature!

I was thinking about the original post, and in articles I've read that refer to people's height, they tend to use percentiles. Like, a 99 percentile man is taller than 99% of all men, so he's REALLY tall, and a 10 percentile women is shorter than 90% of the women (or is it 89?... anyway) so she's pretty short. Most things are designed for standards set to work for the people in the middle.

Pastsimple · Answer

Grammar GeekThanks, Pastsimple, I didn't know that. People always tease Americans because we can't "think" in metric. and because many of them don't like football (soccer) Good to know that I can get around if I find myself in Liberia as well. I can okay with distances because the conversion is pretty easy, but I'm SO lost when it comes to temperature!

I was thinking about the original post, and in articles I've read that refer to people's height, they tend to use percentiles. Like, a 99 percentile man is taller than 99% of all men, so he's REALLY tall, and a 10 percentile women is shorter than 90% of the women (or is it 89?... anyway) so she's pretty short. Most things are designed for standards set to work for the people in the middle.

I haven't heard about these percentiles before but it's very logical. I'd like to know what my percentile is but it should differ from country to country - I think an average Dutch male is some 6 cm taller than an average American male.

I was thinking about the differences in systems of measurements and found out some interesting facts: E.g. in Britain, you can get a pint (0.568 litres) or half a pint of beer (0.284). In metric countries, the serving sizes are usually 0.5 litres and 0.33 litres. 5 glasses (pints) of beer in Britain is almost 6 continental servings if I'm not mistaken. Could be very dangerous.

And so on, I don't want to go too off-topic.

Final remark: At least you Americans drive on the right side of the road (pun intended). Actually, I think it was you and the French who moved the traffic from left to right.

BarbaraPA · Answer

Here's one link to white American male heights: http://www.halls.md/chart/men-height-w.htm

There are links on that page to other similar charts. I don't know how up-to-date it is.

KickingCat · Answer

Thank you, Pastsimple ! That's what I meant!

Pastsimple · Answer

You're welcome.

Also, if you are ever in need to switch to the imperial system, here's my advice:

Don't try to convert every value to the system you are used to think in. In your case, don't convert from the imperial system to the metric system. Instead, link the values from the unfamiliar system to something you're familiar with:

You don't need to know how many degrees Celsius 77F is. Think of 77F as the temperature that allows you to go out in a T-shirt and miniskirt.

The same for height. Example: A man 6ft tall can be called tall. A man 6ft7 tall is very tall and maybe is a basketball player. (Well, I'm not.

)

The same for weight. Example: How many pounds of beef does one need to cook Sunday dinner for 4 people? [<:o)]

Easy, isn't it?

Words for body height

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