Dear Louis and All,
The number 13 was used in my childhood to refer to a bakers dozen, and it
was true that we received 13 bread rolls, for instance, as a dozen. Alas,
commercial reality has caught up with our baker's since then.
On the issue of oysters, there were a few restaurants in Australia who
decided to become infamous by promoting the idea of a 'metric dozen' oysters
with 10 pieces, but I have not heard of these for years. Hopefully, they
generated so much support for their businesses that they soon had to close
their doors.
--
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
CAMS - Certified Advanced Metrication Specialist
- United States Metric Association
ASM - Accredited Speaking Member
- National Speakers Association of Australia
Member, International Federation for Professional Speakers
on 2001/06/07 15.37, Louis JOURDAN at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> At 23:23 -0400 01/06/6, Norman Werling wrote:
>> I will quote from part of a French lesson handout received this week. We
>> are studying foods and the ordering thereof.
>>
>> "Les oeufs se vendent � la douzaine (ils se vendent au kilo dans certains
>> pays)."
>>
>> Eggs are sold by the dozen (they are sold by the kilogram in certain
>> countries.
>
> Just to complement your lesson : oysters in France are sold either by
> the dozen or by the kilogram.
>
> Of interest to this list's members, an oysters' dozen includes 13
> pieces... (I suppose this stems from the time where oysters where not
> transported under refrigeration and statistically one out of 12
> oysters arrived not in good condition ?)
>
> Louis
>
