Why is the abbreviation for ounces ozs I mean where does the Z fit in
According to Chambers Dictionary, it is 15th Century Italian oz, an abbreviation of onza.
And just to be picky, the abbreviation doesn’t take an s in the plural. It’s 8oz, not 8ozs.
And, of course, “ounce” means “inch”, since there are twelve of them to the pound–or at least there used to be.
Well, it doesn’t exactly mean inch, but it shares the same derivation - it comes from the Latin uncia, meaning “twelfth”.
Not so fast buddy,
Here is an 8oz glass
It contains 8ozs of liquid
So there! (he posted smugly)
That’s not how I would write it. I was taught that abbreviations such as ft, yd, lb, oz, st (and, for that matter, cm, kg etc) don’t take an s in the plural. Metric ones don’t by definition, but I was told not to pluralise imperial ones, either
Hmm… my dictionary does accept “ozs” but says that “oz” is preferred in the plural.
OK lets take this bit by bit
Singular=foot
Plural=feet
singular yard (yd)
plural yards (yds)
singular pound (lb)
plural pounds (lbs)
singular ounce (oz)
plural ounce (ozs)
singular stone (st)
plural stone (st)
Singular kilo (kg)
plural kilos (kgs)
That’s how I was taught but of course I’m English and we are damn stubborn and contrary…like Americans really!
I’m also English, spogga. Just goes to show you can’t expect consistency from our education system.
Anyway, I’ll cut you a bit of slack with the imperial units, but SI units never take an s on the plural of the abbreviation.