On Wed, 5 Oct 2011 10:23:47 +0100 Darac Marjal <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Tue, Oct 04, 2011 at 03:25:54PM -0400, Doug wrote: > > On 10/04/2011 07:46 AM, Tom Furie wrote: > > >On Sun, Oct 02, 2011 at 03:55:45PM -0400, Doug wrote: > > > > > The US pint is 16 ounces, and the US quart and gallon are based on > > that. 32 oz. = 1 qt; 4 qts. = 1 gal. > > That's why the British gallon is 5 US quarts, or 4 British quarts. > > The ounce is the same size, or almost. (As wiki says, research is > > needed.) I'm not really sure of the history, but I *think* that all > > pints were once 16 ounces, thus the expression, "A pint's a pound, > > the world around." Therefore, it would seem that the US, being the > > colony, kept on using the old measure, while the mother country > > modified it. (Since the Brits like their "pint" of ale, it is > > logical that they would take steps to get more ounces in their > > pint!) > > The legend I heard was that pints, gallons etc. got redefined due to > the transatlantic trade in various spirits. The legend goes that a > ship would be loaded with a certain number of, say, gallons of rum. > Over the several weeks at sea, some of the cargo would... go missing > (i.e. get consumed by the sailors). Upon arrival at the destination, > however, the same number of gallons of rum would be unloaded from the > ship. They were, however, smaller gallons. :) > Now we are getting into the urban legend end of the conversation. Rum was never shipped in gallons, it was shipped as per number of tuns, butts, hogsheads, kegs and/or kilderkins. Rum was definitely drunk by the sailors, though, in the form of 'grog', which was a watered down rum and strictly rationed. Open slather wouldn't have been risked as it was mutiny and/or cast-up-on-the-rocks territory. Regards, Weaver. -- "In a world without walls and fences, what need have we for Windows or Gates?" -Anon. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [email protected] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [email protected] Archive: http://lists.debian.org/[email protected]
