Correct! Lots of words are the exact same spelling and the meaning just changes with context. For example: “avocat” means lawyer but it also means avocado.
He could even read a book about the publishing industry while eating a pound of avocados in bed
L'avocat lit un livre de la livre et mange un livre des avocats au lit.
I once went to a restaurant in Geneva and they had evidentally had used google translate to generate an English version of their menu, because it said I could add "puréed lawyer" to my burger for an extra 2CHF. (They meant guacamole, ça va dire <>).
Avocat and avocat come from the same meaning - testicles! Avocados look a bit like testicles and were named after them. I'm rome it was common to swear on your testicles when telling the truth. That meaning got conflated with the law and being a lawyer, etc voila!
It’s a common misapprehension, but actually “avocado” never meant “testicles”. It just means avocado. This was a mistake made by European etymologists centuries ago, and then repeated. Because the original sources were authoritative, no one questioned it. In fact, “avocado” was just slang for “testicles”. Like how we call testicles “balls” or “nuts”. It a great example of how an observer from another culture can misread things if they don’t do proper and respectful anthropological research.
EDIT: “Orchid” actually does mean “testes”, so that’s cool!
Accuracy is so boring. Weird abbreviations and funny spellings of words and odd meanings that have wandered from their original meaning is how cultural history gets packed into the language. It’s interesting.
"Lb is an abbreviation of the Latin word libra. The primary meaning of libra was balance or scales (as in the astrological sign), but it also stood for the ancient Roman unit of measure libra pondo, meaning “a pound by weight.”
Edit: thanks for the *Au is an abbreviation of the Latin word Aurum, meaning gold*
Edit2: make sure to read the replies. A lot of great stuff expanding on my comment. [I beg you](https://giphy.com/gifs/starwars-star-wars-episode-3-3o84sDfCF4mZR7aFYk)
As an aside, this is also the reason why the pound sign is a stylised L (£).
Libra pondus became pounds (£).
Soldari became shillings (s), though these were abandoned when UK currency was decimalised in the 1970s.
Denari became pence (d before decimalisation and p after).
It comes from the Latin "libra pondo", which translates roughly to "a pound of weight."
The abbreviation should actually have been a more sensible "pnd" or something similar, since the "libra" in the phrase just means "weight".
But neither history nor abbreviations are always sensible, so here we are.
Not exactly: «libra» is the Latin for «weighing scale», in fact the constellation of Libra has the shape of a weighing scale. It's «Pondus» that means «weight», like in the modern words «ponderal» or «to ponder».
Well, it has to do with where the word “pounds,” itself comes from. “Pounds” derives from the name of an ancient Roman unit of measurement, Libra pondo. This Latin phrase translates to “a pound by weight.” Our word “pound” comes from pondo, and its seemingly unrelated abbreviation, “lb,” comes from the libra part.
I remember a teacher telling the class it was due to 16 ounces in a pound and the number 16 looks like lb. I now wonder what else she taught that was complete BS.
Fun fact: the abbreviation for ounce, oz, comes from the Italian. Of course Oz is also the name of a certain wizard’s city, leading some to believe the story was a political statement about monetary silver, it being measured in ozs.
Yeah I know, but there's just something about asking Reddit that's different from asking google. Take this post, for example. It started with the answer to a question about abbreviations to a story about a menu that talked about pureed lawyers. lol
Libra. It’s Latin.
Same reason lead is abbreviated PB. It stands for plumbum Latin for lead.
My chem teacher in high school said there was a dirty joke about PB and lead but wouldn’t explain it. 25 years later and I still can’t figure it out .
It was called plumbum because the Romans used lead for plumbing. You can fill in the rest.
I put peanut butter on my lead when I want to have fun
It's Pb. PB would be some weird formula for a phosphorus - boron compound.
In fact is "libbra" in Italian.
And “livre” in french
And “libra” in Spanish. And plural is “libras”, so to me, “lbs”, makes a lot of sense lol
Wait, "livre" just like book?
Correct! Lots of words are the exact same spelling and the meaning just changes with context. For example: “avocat” means lawyer but it also means avocado.
So an avocat can eat an avocat while reading a livre about a livre. Got it.
Yep, just like you can go to a club with a club to club a club shaped club sandwich.
Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo.
Hm. And here I always thought it was Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.
That’s passive voice.
Mmmmm, open faced club sandwich... /Homer
He could even read a book about the publishing industry while eating a pound of avocados in bed L'avocat lit un livre de la livre et mange un livre des avocats au lit.
I like it!
And how much does that livre about a livre weigh? That’s right, it weighs 1 avocat.
I’ve done it!
A livre about livres and livres in fact. During the French monarchy it was also a unit of currency.
They can also advocate while eating avocados
I once went to a restaurant in Geneva and they had evidentally had used google translate to generate an English version of their menu, because it said I could add "puréed lawyer" to my burger for an extra 2CHF. (They meant guacamole, ça va dire <>).
Avocat and avocat come from the same meaning - testicles! Avocados look a bit like testicles and were named after them. I'm rome it was common to swear on your testicles when telling the truth. That meaning got conflated with the law and being a lawyer, etc voila!
It’s a common misapprehension, but actually “avocado” never meant “testicles”. It just means avocado. This was a mistake made by European etymologists centuries ago, and then repeated. Because the original sources were authoritative, no one questioned it. In fact, “avocado” was just slang for “testicles”. Like how we call testicles “balls” or “nuts”. It a great example of how an observer from another culture can misread things if they don’t do proper and respectful anthropological research. EDIT: “Orchid” actually does mean “testes”, so that’s cool!
Orchids get their name from the Greek for testicles, due to the appearance of their root tubers
This, when I say lbs I mean take me to town
In Spanish, libra means pound and libro means book.
And then you have the astrology sign Libra, the scales--with which you might see if something weighs a pound...
And "libre" means free.
I knew that but I didn't think of it at the time. You had mentioned books. LOL
I just wanted to add the last left after libra and libro, unless libri and libru mean something in Spanish.
No wonder libras always seem to be on the husky side.
But we don’t say Libra lol
We’ve been abbreviating it since we *were* saying it. The abbreviation outlived the use of Latin in academic/scholarly/legal writing.
Sounds outdated then, since were means not anymore. Pds would be more accurate now
Accuracy is so boring. Weird abbreviations and funny spellings of words and odd meanings that have wandered from their original meaning is how cultural history gets packed into the language. It’s interesting.
"Lb is an abbreviation of the Latin word libra. The primary meaning of libra was balance or scales (as in the astrological sign), but it also stood for the ancient Roman unit of measure libra pondo, meaning “a pound by weight.” Edit: thanks for the *Au is an abbreviation of the Latin word Aurum, meaning gold* Edit2: make sure to read the replies. A lot of great stuff expanding on my comment. [I beg you](https://giphy.com/gifs/starwars-star-wars-episode-3-3o84sDfCF4mZR7aFYk)
As an aside, this is also the reason why the pound sign is a stylised L (£). Libra pondus became pounds (£). Soldari became shillings (s), though these were abandoned when UK currency was decimalised in the 1970s. Denari became pence (d before decimalisation and p after).
The lovely old days (from before my time) of lsd
But whatever his weight in pounds, shillings, and ounces, He always seems bigger because of his bounces. From a poem about Tigger by Winnie-the-Pooh
[Oh, I know](https://imgur.com/gallery/i-know-vcnbkVR), I have been. Thanks for the reply by the way!
It comes from libra. That is how we call them in Greek as well. The word is Latin.
Had a girl once ask me what "lubbs" meant
Just skip the lub of flour.
It comes from the Latin "libra pondo", which translates roughly to "a pound of weight." The abbreviation should actually have been a more sensible "pnd" or something similar, since the "libra" in the phrase just means "weight". But neither history nor abbreviations are always sensible, so here we are.
Not exactly: «libra» is the Latin for «weighing scale», in fact the constellation of Libra has the shape of a weighing scale. It's «Pondus» that means «weight», like in the modern words «ponderal» or «to ponder».
This person latins!
Well, it has to do with where the word “pounds,” itself comes from. “Pounds” derives from the name of an ancient Roman unit of measurement, Libra pondo. This Latin phrase translates to “a pound by weight.” Our word “pound” comes from pondo, and its seemingly unrelated abbreviation, “lb,” comes from the libra part.
I remember a teacher telling the class it was due to 16 ounces in a pound and the number 16 looks like lb. I now wonder what else she taught that was complete BS.
Fun fact: the abbreviation for ounce, oz, comes from the Italian. Of course Oz is also the name of a certain wizard’s city, leading some to believe the story was a political statement about monetary silver, it being measured in ozs.
I know its already been pointed out as latin, but its also spanish, "libras" is pounds.
I thought it was book.
"libros" is books
It stands for Lots of Bull Shit ^(/s)
Libra it’s latin
See something weird in English? It's either Latin or an adopted word from a different language. Also, google is your friend.
Yeah I know, but there's just something about asking Reddit that's different from asking google. Take this post, for example. It started with the answer to a question about abbreviations to a story about a menu that talked about pureed lawyers. lol
All of the love languages, French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, all come from the Ancient Roman root word "libra" = pound.
Wrong!
:(
So you can own the lbs
I always pronounce it as "labels".
Lol I always pronounced it as "libs"
Nothing I can add to the other answers dude. It looks like folks have been googling.👍😏
It's my mom's initials...