On Jan 22, 2009, at 9:29, Malvary J Cole wrote:
"Tamara wrote:
denaro (d.) = 1/24of an ounce (used for precious metals, etc)
carato (ct.) = 1.24 of an ounce (used for larger gemstones, pearls,
etc.)
What gets me are the last two. Same weight. Both, basically, used to
measure precious items (though in two different kinds of businesses).
But two names... Go figure :)"
I respectfully disagree with Tamara's interpretation.
That's 'cause Tamara's two remaining brain cells shortcircuited
temporarily and she messed up when typing the numbers in :)
In the book, both denaro and carato are shown as being 1/24 of an
ounce. So, the puzzle persists though, had the numbers been as I'd
typed them, you'd have been correct (denaro being a tiny fraction of an
ounce and carato almost an ounce and a quarter).
And Jean Nathan wrote:
libbra for a pound explains why we use the abbreviation lb. for it.
I've always wondered about that.
It explains more than the abbreviation for pound, I think. In the
summer of 1968, my first trip to England, y'all still had the old money
system too (and a major pain in the butt it was, too, to learn how to
manipulate numbers in it).
I had no problem figuring out that "sh" stood for "shilling" and why.
But, try as I might I could never figure out the abbreviations for
*either* the pound *or* the pence. And now I know... "L" for pound --
from libbra (the scales) and "d" for "denaro" -- 1/24th of a pound
(1pound= 20shillings. 1shilling =12pence)
--
Tamara P Duvall http://t-n-lace.net/
Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland)
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