# Why are there three different measurements called the ounce? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 2, 2014, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-three-different-measurements-called-the-ounce/692196 "2014-07-02T15:13:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![sich\_hinaufwinden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@sich\_hinaufwinden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sich_hinaufwinden)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2014, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-three-different-measurements-called-the-ounce/692196/21 "2014-07-03T01:12:18Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > ::brain explodes:: or [QUOTE=Sheldon Cooper] ::brane explodes:: [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2014, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-three-different-measurements-called-the-ounce/692196/22 "2014-07-03T01:23:36Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Of course there are still many anomalies in everyday use. American gallons vs UK gallons; a ton has too many varieties to list here. And while we’re at it, the US fluid ounce is slightly different from the Imperial fluid ounce, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2014, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-three-different-measurements-called-the-ounce/692196/23 "2014-07-03T02:07:47Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > And while we’re at it, the US fluid ounce is slightly different from the Imperial fluid ounce, as well. As I pointed out in post #5. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2014, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-three-different-measurements-called-the-ounce/692196/24 "2014-07-03T02:17:35Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > As I pointed out in post #5. _shakes fist_ Darn you Giles! ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2014, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-three-different-measurements-called-the-ounce/692196/25 "2014-07-03T02:35:03Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > 1mph? That is terribly slow probably about a third of what a guy carrying a backpack can average if they are in good shape. I’d guess a league (3 miles) is actually what he was aiming for with the amount a person can walk in an hour. ---
**Author:** ![sbunny8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@sbunny8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sbunny8)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2014, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-three-different-measurements-called-the-ounce/692196/26 "2014-07-03T15:36:11Z")
“ounce” means 1/12th. 12 is a good number for dividing things up, so you can make 1/4 or 1/3 or 1/2 as you like. 60 is also a good number for dividing things up for similar reasons. But on the other hand you can divide in half and half again and half again and get sixteenths. It’s natural to take some standard measure and call it a pound, roughly a large handful of dirt or clay, then divide that into 12 smaller segments, each called a twelfth of a pound, or _uncia_ in Latin. An ounce of water is a fluid ounce. No mystery there. What surprises me is that when talking about 1/16th they still use the word for twelfths. And yes, a mile is a thousand paces, and a pace is two steps (just a bit over 5 feet). _Mil_ = thousand. ---
**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2014, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-three-different-measurements-called-the-ounce/692196/27 "2014-07-03T15:57:52Z")
I’m surprised no one has brought up the ‘nautical mile’ (or maybe I missed it.) Where did that come from? ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2014, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-three-different-measurements-called-the-ounce/692196/28 "2014-07-03T16:31:08Z")
> [@UncleFred](#): > > I’m surprised no one has brought up the ‘nautical mile’ (or maybe I missed it.) > Where did that come from? I’m not certain, but I think a nautical mile is equal to one arc-minute of latitude. So it’s a useful measure when you’re sailing on maps marked in latitude-longitude. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2014, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-three-different-measurements-called-the-ounce/692196/29 "2014-07-03T16:42:00Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > I’m not certain, but I think a nautical mile is equal to one arc-minute of latitude. So it’s a useful measure when you’re sailing on maps marked in latitude-longitude. Right, except not precisely equal. The nautical mile, like the sea mile and the geographic mile, evolved as a navigational unit based on the earth’s geography, a best estimate of one minute of arc under various conditions, a minute of arc along a meridian in the case of the nautical mile. It’s now defined as precisely 1852 meters. (ETA: whereas a minute of arc varies between about 1843 to 1862 meters as you move from the equator to the poles.) ---
**Author:** ![sbunny8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@sbunny8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sbunny8)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2014, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-three-different-measurements-called-the-ounce/692196/30 "2014-07-03T18:52:03Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Right, except not precisely equal. The nautical mile, like the sea mile and the geographic mile, evolved as a navigational unit based on the earth’s geography, a best estimate of one minute of arc under various conditions, a minute of arc along a meridian in the case of the nautical mile. It’s now defined as precisely 1852 meters. (ETA: whereas a minute of arc varies between about 1843 to 1862 meters as you move from the equator to the poles.) Yes, the full circle is divided into 360 steps called “degrees” (from the Latin _de gradus_, which means a stair step) then you take each of those steps and further subdivide them into 60 small parts (“minute”=small), then you divide by 60 again and get tiny units (“second”=again). One minute of latitude is roughly the same size as 1,000 paces, so they called in a nautical mile. Actually walking 1,000 paces across the surface of the ocean is problematic for most humans. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2014, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-three-different-measurements-called-the-ounce/692196/31 "2014-07-03T23:55:14Z")
> [@sbunny8](#): > > Actually walking 1,000 paces across the surface of the ocean is problematic for most humans. That’s why Leagues are Under the Sea. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2014, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-three-different-measurements-called-the-ounce/692196/32 "2014-07-04T12:36:16Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Of course there are still many anomalies in everyday use. American gallons vs UK gallons; a ton has too many varieties to list here. If you want a term for units with the most variety, try [barrel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrel_(unit)). That wikipage only mentions the most common of the different units that go by the name of barrel. I’m not sure how many different barrels there are; well over a dozen, I’m sure. How big the barrel is dependent mostly on what you’re measuring but also sometimes on which country you’re in. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2014, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-three-different-measurements-called-the-ounce/692196/33 "2014-07-04T18:00:30Z")
Another confusing one are the various taels used in the Far East. > **[Tael](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tael)** > > Tael (/ˈteɪl/), also known as the tahil and by other names, can refer to any one of several weight measures used in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It usually refers to the Chinese tael, a part of the Chinese system of weights and currency. The Chinese tael was standardized to 50 grams in 1959. > In Hong Kong and Singapore, it is equivalent to 10 mace (Chinese: 錢; pinyin: qián) or .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-... There’s Chinese taels, Singapore taels and Taiwan taels apparently in common use. Some of the scales and balances I deal with have about 20 units of measure available though I’ve not encountered probably about half other than in literature and manuals (like those taels). Not that anyone asked… The common ones in the US are grams, kilograms, pounds, tons, grains, carats, pennyweights, troy ounces, ounces, milligrams, sometimes newtons (a unit of force, o’course). In my experience, ounces are seldom used outside the food packaging industry with the odd paint mixing application once in a while. Grains requests seem to be mostly amateur ammunition reloaders. In day to day public use, I think that pennyweights are used more often than troy ounces. A pawn shop or jeweler are probably using the dwt, a wholesaler the oz-t. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2014, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-three-different-measurements-called-the-ounce/692196/34 "2014-07-04T18:53:04Z")
I have long thought we should go back to using the league, standardized to 5 km, which would be a convenient metric multiple. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-three-different-measurements-called-the-ounce/692196/35 "2014-07-05T03:28:50Z")
> [@svd678](#): > > I question the mile as time/distance. A Roman mile was “mille passus” a thousand paces. Pace according the the Roman style was from where your left foot left the ground to where it touched > it again - we would call this 2 paces. Roman mile longer than English? Who would call that two paces? A pace in the military is still measured from left foot strime to left foot strike, or two steps. I cant think of a time I heard the word pace used outside the military. But pace has always meant two steps to me. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-three-different-measurements-called-the-ounce/692196/36 "2014-07-05T03:34:34Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **jnglmassiv** : > > In my experience, ounces are seldom used outside the food packaging industry with the odd paint mixing application once in a while. If you mean weight ounces, the Post Office uses them, too. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-three-different-measurements-called-the-ounce/692196/37 "2014-07-05T04:35:44Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > Who would call that two paces? A pace in the military is still measured from left foot strime to left foot strike, or two steps. I cant think of a time I heard the word pace used outside the military. But pace has always meant two steps to me. [The modern meaning of pace is generally a single step.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pace_(unit)) If the meaning in the military is two steps, while that’s coincides with the Roman definition it differs from the non-military meaning. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-three-different-measurements-called-the-ounce/692196.md?page=1)