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>.
