[merb]

well in germany you still say "ein pfund" (one pound) or "halbes pfund" (half pound) if you buy sausages/meat. but you mean 500g and not the real value of one pound. it's just that this is used because we got used to it. we also have a wierd system for the clock where we say "viertel vor" (a quarter to) or "viertel nach" (a quarter past). which is pretty common to say the time in quarters instead of values.