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The Netherlands is thoroughly metricized, but we still have the 'pond' as informal usage for 500g. It's nice to have a little bit more meat in your stew. :-)
by gpvos 4y ago
The Netherlands is thoroughly metricized, but we still have the 'pond' as informal usage for 500g. It's nice to have a little bit more meat in your stew. :-)
- kergonath 4y ago> we still have the 'pond' as informal usage for 500g It’s actually one of a few old mesures usuelles that were given a convenient, round equivalent in the metric system in a decree under Napoleon. The pint (or demi) is another one that is understood these days; the others are all but forgotten. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesures_usuelles https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesures_usuelles
- gpvos 4y agoIt did not really work like that in the Netherlands: in Napoleonic times the 'pond' was officially redefined to be 1kg, but that clearly didn't stick, as described above. An 'ons' of 1/16th of a 'pond' (as described in your linked article) was used in pre-metric times, but the official Dutch metric system[0] of 1820 did not allow them. The 'ons' we use informally now is exactly 100g. That's the thing about traditional measures: they are entirely different when you move a few 100km. [0] https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nederlands_metriek_stelsel https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nederlands_metriek_stelsel