[Vocabulary] I'm six foot two and a half

[englishhobby]

Why does the boy in 'Catcher in the Rye' use the singular 'foot', not plural 'feet'? What does this mean: I'm six foot two and a half?

I was sixteen then, and I'm seventeen now, and sometimes I act like I'm about thirteen. It's really ironical, because I'm six foot two and a half and I have gray hair. I really do.

 

[GoesStation]

When combined with inches, we don't pluralize foot.

She's just five feet tall. Her sister is five-foot two, and her father is five-eleven. The latter is another way to say 5'11" or "five-foot eleven".

 

[englishhobby]

Thanks a lot. And what does 'and a half' mean? Is it 'and a half of an inch'?

 

[GoesStation]

Thanks a lot. And what does 'and a half' mean? Is it 'and a half of an inch'?

Yes. Holden was 6'2-1/2".

 

[bubbha]

In the US it's common to use the plural: "I'm six feet two inches tall."

 

[Tdol]

It's not wrong in BrE, but foot is more common with inches, though we're mostly metric nowadays, officially at least among older age groups.

 

[GoesStation]

In the US it's common to use the plural: "I'm six feet two inches tall."

It's OK when you include "inches". I wouldn't say I'm six feet two.