Re: [OT] Imperial measures
On Wed, 5 Oct 2011 10:23:47 +0100
Darac Marjal <mailinglist@darac.org.uk> 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.
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