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. :) -- Darac Marjal
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