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this post was submitted on 15 Sep 2023
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Their US customary units. What even is a fluid ounce, and what is it doing in my drink?
They're Florida Ounces
Come visit the UK. We have fluid ounces too, but only for baking. Your drink will be served by the millilitre, unless it's beer in a pub, or milk in a home, in which case it will be served by the pint.
And here’s me hoping to be served by the bartender.
oh and British imperial pints are different than US customary pints just for the extra fun
Oh that's true. American pints are a disappointment.
A shot? An eighth of a cup? Sixteenth of a pint? I mean, I get it. Metric is standard, but of all the units to pick on, the fluid ounce is probably one of our more reasonable measurements. We have acres of less-intuitive units.
That sounds like slang term for a boger.
Flounces are the best part of US Customary units. It's all base 2/8/16, which is a hell of a lot more sensible than base 10 units.
Is that because you have 16 fingers?
We take off our shoes. Duh.
Debatable. I probably shouldn't restart the whole imperial vs metric debate, but I might just say that people who grow up with metric think exactly the opposite.
I'll convert to metric once we convert to a dozenal number system. Ten is a terrible number to base our counting system on.
Maybe when you are counting apples, but not when you are dealing with arbitrary amounts. Why else is our number system base 10?
Because ten fingers. Base 12 is still better.
2x2x3. You can divide 12 so many ways, its nice.
You're serious? Why? I've genuinely never heard this stance before.
Is it because they're powers of two and are therefore easier to halve, quarter, etc. for baking and cooking purposes?
Yeah this is why most old measurement systems used 4 8 12. 4 fingers to a palm, you don't count the thumb as a finger. Then 4 palms to arm, for a total of 16 fingers. At 12 arms into a bigger unit so you can count the joints on your hand
I can't tell if you're kidding. How do you keep track of four palms per arm?
That actually how the Egyptians made their cubits. Tuck your Thumb under you hand and place all four finger at your elbow. You have about 4 palms before you get to your wrist.
Interesting. Learned something new today, thanks!
Yes.
Maybe before we had the scientific ability it measure micro-measurements. It makes no sense today.
It doesn't really matter, does it? Just look at the mL.