“Ounce” (From a wonderful 1958 children’s book by poet Alister Reid and woodcut artist Ben Shahn called Ounce, Dice, Trice, that lightheartedly suggests about thirty such numbering schemes using English words).
Oddly, as common as “trey” for “three” is to me, I never made the connection with the name. :smack:
Does “meaning 2” include the Beach Boys song Little Deuce Coupe refering to the year 1932? A perennially favorite thread topic here at the Dope. A recent thread.
And I certainly think “Drop a deuce.” as a variation for “Going number 2.” certainly qualifies.
Also, the lyric from Bruce Springsteen’s Blinded By the Light, “Cut loose like a deuce, another runner in the night.”
Also, the lyric from Bruce Springsteen’s Blinded By the Light, “Cut loose like a deuce, another runner in the night,” also referring to a '32 Ford.
“Ounce” usually means 1/12, though, not one. Usually you hear about an ounce of weight (1/12 pound), but an ace of a suit of cards. Of course an ounce may not be exactly 1/12, and the term can also be used figuratively (a little bit of something)
Just noticed this. “Trice” in a counting context. Hmm. Reminds me of one of my old puzzlers: What word comes next in the sequence once, twice, thrice?
In what system of units are there 12 ounces in a pound?
^ Troy weight; for precious metals, etc.
The book JKellyMap was referring to was just playing with words. Notice he called it “lighthearted”. It didn’t seriously consider “ounce, dice, trice” a real form of counting.
That said, the word ounce does in fact derive ultimately from Latin word unus, meaning “one”. But it does so via uncia, one twelfth of a libra, the Roman pound.
Ounce, bounce, trounce …
BTW, ‘inch’ is a cognate of ‘ounce’ and also means ⅟[sub]12[/sub].
*oi-no- > unus > uncia > ynce [OE] > unche > inch
*oi-no- > unus > uncia > unce/once [OF] > ounce
Wikipedia states that the first known occurrence of OE ‘ynce’ was in the fines for knife stabbing: Stabber owed the victim one shilling per inch of stab depth (though 4th and subsequent inches were free).
Google also tells me that an ‘ounce’ of time in medieval English was 7.5 seconds. But this wasn’t ⅟[sub]8[/sub] of a minute: it was ⅟[sub]12[/sub] of a 90-second ‘moment’!
Recipe has 1 oz thyme. Heh.
Good one, and one of the most misread lyrics. Honestly, try as you like it’s hard to get the real lyrics from that song.
Does “deuce” coupe refer to a double barrel carb?
Two doors, I think.
A Troy ounce is a lid from a dealer named Troy. Tres leches are not three leeches. Octal vision occurs when an octopod wraps tentacles over your eyes. More seriously, since ace means one, why is a pilot an ace after FIVE kills? Shouldn’t they be a quince?
^ I was sure there was a ST:TNG joke in there somewhere, but no luck.
According to Wikipedia (which I donated to this morning), it means 1932.
As do other sites. Funny because I always thought it meant the carb.
Also mentioned here: https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=815971
^ I’ll. Be. Dipped.
Much obliged, Jackson. (<-- '50s term)