https://www.medievalists.net/2025/10/can-you-solve-these-ten-medieval-mathematical-riddles/?utm_source=gravitec&utm_medium=push&utm_campaign=Push+Notification
Snail v knight :)
So an "ounce of a foot" is an inch? Never come across that phrasing before, is that Alcuin being weird or the translator?
Is that a US ounce or imperial ounce? ???
Of course, in 246 years and 210 days the snail would probably have died of old age, if not hunger.
It's a long way to go for a spot of lunch...
:P
;D
Quote from: Duncan Head on Oct 11, 2025, 10:39 AMSo an "ounce of a foot" is an inch? Never come across that phrasing before, is that Alcuin being weird or the translator?
I don't know, but it's probably relevant that "ounce" and "inch" are both from Latin
uncia "twelfth part", by different routes.
Ooooh, love a bit of etymology
FWIW, a British Imperial pint contains 20 fluid ounces, whereas a US Customary pint has only 16. Even stranger, the US fluid ounce contains 29.5735295625 mL, except on food labelling when it contains 30 mL.
None of the above should be confused with the international (Avoirdupois) ounce that is a measure of weight.
8)
A pint of water weighs a pound and a quarter, as we learned in primary school. Hence an fluid ounce weighs an ounce.
...except in USA, where it weighs about 4% more. :P
Quote from: Nick Harbud on Oct 12, 2025, 11:58 AM...except in USA, where it weighs about 4% more. :P
According to wiki, the Americans say "The pint is a pound the world around". However, a US pint weighs 16.6 ounces.
Quote from: Erpingham on Oct 12, 2025, 12:24 PMAccording to wiki, the Americans say "The pint is a pound the world around". However, a US pint weighs 16.6 ounces.
That is what we were taught in primary school.
Yeah, I feel the SI units need some suitable mnemonics for the modern age...
...Anyone know some good rhymes involving kilogrammes and litres?
???
Is it kilograms or kilogrammes though ;D
Quote from: Imperial Dave on Oct 12, 2025, 04:03 PMIs it kilograms or kilogrammes though ;D
Kilos, just to play safe :)
That's a tonne off my mind....
Quote from: Nick Harbud on Oct 12, 2025, 12:48 PMYeah, I feel the SI units need some suitable mnemonics for the modern age...
...Anyone know some good rhymes involving kilogrammes and litres?
???
A litre of water's a pint and three-quarters. Two and a quarter pounds of jam weigh about a kilogramme.
The meat on one of my lambs, about twenty kilogrammes :)
Quote from: Keraunos on Oct 13, 2025, 09:29 AMThe meat on one of my lambs, about twenty kilogrammes :)
This does seem a rather agricultural one. City dwellers may struggle :)
Quote from: Erpingham on Oct 13, 2025, 10:15 AMQuote from: Keraunos on Oct 13, 2025, 09:29 AMThe meat on one of my lambs, about twenty kilogrammes :)
This does seem a rather agricultural one. City dwellers may struggle :)
Anybody who has been hit amidships by a 40kg live weight lamb moving at speed and a couple of feet clear of the ground will struggle ;)
Quote from: Jim Webster on Oct 13, 2025, 02:05 PMQuote from: Erpingham on Oct 13, 2025, 10:15 AMQuote from: Keraunos on Oct 13, 2025, 09:29 AMThe meat on one of my lambs, about twenty kilogrammes :)
This does seem a rather agricultural one. City dwellers may struggle :)
Anybody who has been hit amidships by a 40kg live weight lamb moving at speed and a couple of feet clear of the ground will struggle ;)
In the soya-latte sipping quarters, the very concept of lamb is a bit of a struggle.
Let alone mutton...
Quote from: Imperial Dave on Oct 13, 2025, 03:58 PMLet alone mutton...
And let us not forget hoggett, which many regard as tastier than lamb but less tough than mutton.
Not heard that one before
Hoggett (sometimes hogget) is the meat of a sheep between one and two years old. So between lamb and mutton in age. It's sometimes seen in Yorkshire butchers.
Well well, you learn something new everyday
Mutton dressed as hoggett
Quote from: Erpingham on Oct 12, 2025, 12:24 PMAccording to wiki, the Americans say "The pint is a pound the world around".
It's been a long, long time since you could get a pint for a pound in the UK...
Quote from: Imperial Dave on Oct 13, 2025, 06:56 PMWell well, you learn something new everyday
Mutton dressed as hoggett
You've not heard of Farmer Hoggett, as played by the great James Cromwell?
I thought hoggetts were those short creatures with furry feet who lived in subterranean houses in the Shire.... :-[
Quote from: RichT on Oct 14, 2025, 08:49 AMQuote from: Imperial Dave on Oct 13, 2025, 06:56 PMWell well, you learn something new everyday
Mutton dressed as hoggett
You've not heard of Farmer Hoggett, as played by the great James Cromwell?
Another thing I missed first time around