5 ms·
I wonder why Zentner is not on the list. People still used that in colloquial talk in the 1970s. Well, being exactly 50 kg it was already kind of ISO. Measures
by usr1106 6y ago
I wonder why Zentner is not on the list. People still used that in colloquial talk in the 1970s. Well, being exactly 50 kg it was already kind of ISO.
Measures of area are missing. I still remember very old people talking of Morgen, whithout having any clue how much that would be. Used to describe the size of a farm. I guess it was somehow metric already, but I'm sure farms where measured centuries before.
- haunter 6y agoHas its own page though https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgen
- usr1106 6y agoNot even linked... (Reminds of other Wikipedia projects I have "ongoing" (which is really: haven't done anything for a while) Cleaning up some confusing article splits, it's a tedious task.)
- johannes1234321 6y agoBecause it's not obsolete. It's still in colloquial use.
- anoncake 6y agoPfund (500g) is on the list and also still in use. I think it's more common than Zentner.
- leipert 6y agoDepends on whether you tend to buy meat (only use case for Pfund for me) or you work in construction / gardening etc. where Zentner is still commonly used. At least where I live.
- gerdesj 6y ago(This is a bit weird) 50 year old Brit here. I lived in a land called West Germany for several years in the '70s and '80s. Pfund (pound) was routinely used in markets ie street markets but not generally in supermarkets but it was understood. If you asked for ein pfund pfeffer salami you got 400g or so of peppered salami. Back then Germany was pretty much fully SI and decimalized but just like any other country had some old units still left hanging on.
- johannes1234321 6y agoYes, they are hanging around, while values typically have been rounded to bears "round" SI number. A more traditional pound is 454g, nowadays it's understood as 500g. The reason why you don't typically see it in supermarkets etc. is that law requires SI units and written language often differs from spoken.
- FabHK 6y agoYes, people still sometimes use the Morgen (=morning). It's the area "tillable in the morning hours of a day by one man behind an ox or horse dragging a single bladed plough" (about 2500 m^2, though regional variations were 4000 or even up to 10000 m^2). Interestingly, the acre was also historically determined as the area that can be ploughed in one whole day by a team of eight oxen, namely 1 furlong x 1 chain or 4047 m^2. Not sure what that says about German vs Anglo-Saxon working hours or oxen... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgen
- majewsky 6y agoFWIW, I've never heard the word "Morgen" used in that meaning outside of poems. Maybe this is a regional thing? I'm in East Germany (born and raised in Mecklenburg, now living in Saxony).
- mgerullis 6y agoNever heard it either, born and raised in Stuttgart, living in Berlin
- groby_b 6y agofwiw, heard it used regularly (NRW, "Bergisches Land") - in the late 70s, by people 70+.
- FabHK 6y agoI (GGP) have also heard it in NRW/Rheinland-Pfalz (Eifel) e.g. from older relatives. It is obsolete, and used less than the Zentner, Pfund.
- zwaps 6y agoheard it used in NRW where the size of a plot of land to be sold was still specified in Morgen
- spongeb00b 6y ago
- gumby 6y agoSeemingly used the most these days in the Zungenbrecher ,,Zehn Ziegen zogen zehn Zentner Zucker zum Zoo.'
- carlmr 6y agoI also wondered about Fahrenheit, since Zoll (inch) is on the list.