desperance ([info]desperance) wrote,
@ 2008-04-23 18:01:00
Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
And I also forgot...
Today (as every day, yes yes) is full of forgetting.

The thing I forgot to say about my new vacuum flask is that it is rated at "half a quart". Which is like talking about half a pair of hounds: one understands entirely, but you might as well say "two quarters". It's a descriptive inefficiency, and not useful.

It's a damn pint, okay?

Advertisement

(Post a new comment)


[info]camies
2008-04-24 10:04 am UTC (link)
But is saying 'half a pair of hounds' saying 'this hound normally works with another hound but for the moment it is on its own'? But a pint doesn't have to have another one to go with it (though if I was at the Park Tavern I might differ on that point).
I'm not sure everyone understands quarts anyhow. It's like this compulsion to sell soft drinks and coffee in ounce sizes. Until a few years ago I'd never heard of a '12 oz drink' and while I understand this is about three quarters of a pint it isn't a mode of reference that comes to mind naturally.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

[info]desperance
2008-04-25 01:24 pm UTC (link)
But is saying 'half a pair of hounds' saying 'this hound normally works with another hound but for the moment it is on its own'?

Not the way I was told it: they said that a hunt traditionally counts its pack of hounds in pairs, and a hound alone is half a pair. I have no idea whether this is actually true, but I've always hugged it to myself as a wonderful notion.

And I'm with you on the whole oz thing. I deal with fluid ounces in the kitchen all the time, and it still never feels like a proper way to talk about liquids that you actually drink.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

(Anonymous)
2008-04-27 09:43 pm UTC (link)
It is, however, quite obvious that both Barry and Mac are half a pair of cats.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

[info]shewhomust
2008-04-25 11:32 am UTC (link)
Half a real quart or half a US quart?

(Reply to this)(Thread)

[info]desperance
2008-04-25 01:21 pm UTC (link)
*measures*

Half a real quart: one imperial pint. I dunno how much a US quart is...

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

[info]shewhomust
2008-04-26 03:24 pm UTC (link)
2 US pints, at 16 fl.ozs per pint (as opposed to 20 flozs to the imperial pint). Bear this in mind when your US cookbook specifies everything in cups (standard measuring cup=half US pint). They only do it to annoy...

(Reply to this)(Parent)

[info]handworn
2008-04-28 10:26 pm UTC (link)
You'd think it would have a name like an "octave," or something like that, like quart is to the book size quarto.

(Reply to this)

Create an Account
Forgot your login?
Login w/ OpenID
English • Español • Deutsch • Русский…