Why is BBL the abbreviation for barrel?

[moparcanuck]

There's only 1 B in barrel. Shouldn't it be BRL?

 

[WP29440SE]

here's a little history lesson from your friends at Ticker Sense. You might have noticed long ago that the official abbreviation for barrels (when referencing a barrel of crude oil) is "BBL," despite the obvious fact that the word "barrel" lacks a second "b."
What are the origins of this mysterious "b"?

In the early 1860's, when oil production began, there was no standard container for oil, so oil and petroleum products were stored and transported in barrels of all different shapes and sizes (beer barrels, fish barrels, molasses barrels, turpentine barrels, etc.). By the early 1870's, the 42-gallon barrel had been adopted as the standard for oil trade. This was 2 gallons per barrel more than the 40-gallon standard used by many other industries at the time. The extra 2 gallons was to allow for evaporation and leaking during tranport (most barrels were made of wood). Standard Oil began manufacturing 42 gallon barrels that were blue to be used for transporting petroleum. The use of a blue barrel, abbreviated "bbl," guaranteed a buyer that this was a 42-gallon barrel.
somewhere along the line the auto industry adapted it

copy/paste courtesy of google LOL

 

[Redhorse719]

:thinker: I have never thought about it, but now that you mention it....:icon_scratch:

 

[A383Wing]

How come "lb" is abbreviation for "pound" and there is no "L" or "B" in the word?

 

[Redhorse719]

That's another good one. :icon_scratch:

 

[WP29440SE]

Lol

 

[Mopars & Missiles]

Same reason you,

Park in your Driveway

and

Drive on a Parkway.

 

[Richard Cranium]

Does a one legged duck swim circles?

 

[Redhorse719]

Does a one legged duck swim circles?

OK I give up.:waiting:

 

[A383Wing]

why does round pizza come in a square box?

 

[WileE]

The guy that invented the abbreviation stuttered.

 

[Redhorse719]

why does round pizza come in a square box?

It's a square meal?

 

[khryslerkid]

So if you paint your carb blue, the abbreviation bbl would be correct...

 

[moparcanuck]

here's a little history lesson from your friends at Ticker Sense. You might have noticed long ago that the official abbreviation for barrels (when referencing a barrel of crude oil) is "BBL," despite the obvious fact that the word "barrel" lacks a second "b."
What are the origins of this mysterious "b"?

In the early 1860's, when oil production began, there was no standard container for oil, so oil and petroleum products were stored and transported in barrels of all different shapes and sizes (beer barrels, fish barrels, molasses barrels, turpentine barrels, etc.). By the early 1870's, the 42-gallon barrel had been adopted as the standard for oil trade. This was 2 gallons per barrel more than the 40-gallon standard used by many other industries at the time. The extra 2 gallons was to allow for evaporation and leaking during tranport (most barrels were made of wood). Standard Oil began manufacturing 42 gallon barrels that were blue to be used for transporting petroleum. The use of a blue barrel, abbreviated "bbl," guaranteed a buyer that this was a 42-gallon barrel.
somewhere along the line the auto industry adapted it

copy/paste courtesy of google LOL

Thanks.

 

[Richard Cranium]

OK I give up.:waiting:

Same here. I was wondering if anyone knew?

 

[WP29440SE]

Thanks.

funny thing is , I was wondering about it myself when I put these decals on my scoop, but I kept forgetting to look into it

 

[Hemi Rebel]

Why are pounds, when used as a weight, abbreviated*lbs?

A*If I’m to be strictly accurate in my reply (which you may construe as being pedantic if you wish, but there’s a serious point here)*lbs*isn’t an abbreviation of “pounds”. It’s shorthand for “pounds weight” but isn’t an abbreviation of the wordpounds.

The form*lb*is actually an abbreviation of the Latin word*libra, which could mean a pound, itself a shortened form of the full expression,*libra pondo, “pound weight”. The second word of this phrase, by the way, is the origin of the English*pound.

You will also know*Libra*as the astrological sign, the seventh sign of the zodiac. In classical times that name was given to rather an uninspiring constellation, with no particularly bright stars in it. It was thought to represent scales or a balance, the main sense of*libra*in Latin, which is why it is often accompanied by the image of a pair of scales.

Libra*for a pound is first found in English in the late fourteenth century, almost at the same time as*lb*started to be used. Strictly speaking again, this was the Roman pound of 12 ounces, not the more modern one of 16. And just to consolidate my reputation for careful description, modern metrologists, scientists who study units of measurements, would prefer that we don’t use*lbs*at all; in scientific work, all units are singular.

Incidentally, another abbreviation for*libra*became the standard symbol for the British pound in the monetary sense. In modern times it is usually written*£, an ornate form of*L*in which a pair of cross-strokes (often just one these days) were the way that a medieval scribe marked an abbreviation. The link between the two senses of*pound, weight and money, is that in England a thousand years ago a pound in money was equivalent to the value of a pound of silver.

QUOTE=A383Wing;910100206]How come "lb" is abbreviation for "pound" and there is no "L" or "B" in the word?[/QUOTE]

Copied from the internet

 

[Richard Cranium]

 

[khryslerkid]

Same here. I was wondering if anyone knew?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqDwER9QQwQ

 

[Mopars & Missiles]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqDwER9QQwQ

That just Quacks me up!!