A ton is 1000kg which is approximately 2200lb. Half a ton never seemed much for the pickup trucks of old, but on the other hand, you could overload them by 1.5-2x and still have a bit of suspension travel left for a careful drive home, e.g. when fetching roof shingles. This was when they were cheap utility vehicles of course.

In the US, we have an imperial ton of precisely 2000lb. A metric ton is commonly heard, but always specified.

Metric tonne.

For additional confusion's sake, I got it wrong - It's not an "Imperial" ton in the US, but a "Customary" ton. There's also a British "Imperial" ton, and sometime called the "Long ton" (whereas the US Customary unit is also called the "Short ton". The Imperial Ton is 2240 pounds, which if you're dyslexic is the same as the Metric Ton's 2204.6 pounds.

Don't forget the metric fucktonne, as well.

Which, confusingly, is almost invariably spelt 'metric fuckton'

this is also different from the shit-ton or shitton, which is customary

Metric shit tonne*

My dude, In Europe elevators with capacity half a ton say they can lift 7 people.

Or 4 Americans /s

Disclaimer, am American and while said in jest, we do have an obesity problem.

A ton has always meant 1000 lb to me and my Texas education - ya'll are dreaming when you mention 2200 lbs or whatever.

Are you for real or just joshin’?

A ton is 2000lb.

So...five 400lb people