Thank's for changing the subject header. I was manually killfiling the tedious thread about who's on the correct side of the political spectrum in our neighborhood--but happened to read laserbeams last contribution for some reason, and enjoyed it.
So--thanks, Ray and Chip! (now--what does this have to do with University City--get back On Topic!) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Charles H. Buchholtz" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 2004 2:24 PM Subject: [UC] cakes, loaves, dozens, inches, ounces (was: striking at strikes) > From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?L_a_s_e_r_B_e_a_m_=AE?= <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Wed, 08 Dec 2004 10:49:52 -0500 > > this got me wondering about the phrase "baker's dozen," > > Which reminded me of a story I heard about inches and ounces. > According to this article, they both come from the same latin root > word, which meant "1/12th". The Romans got a lot of their math from > the babylonians, who used base 12 and base 60. Notice that if you > pronounce "ounce" with a soft Italian "c", as in "Abbraccio", it > sounds a lot like "inch". > > But wait! An ounce is 1/16th of a pound, not 1/12th! Well, it turns > out that Roman legionaires by law were paid with an ounce of gold > (maybe on honorable discharge retirement?) When the empire started > running out of money, they redefined the ounce from 1/12th of a pound > down to smaller fractions, eventually settling at 1/16th. That way, > they could pay off more soldiers with the same amount of gold. > > > --- Chip > ---- > You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the > list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see > <http://www.purple.com/list.html>. ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
