4 ms·

I was surprised to see "L" as the "only correct" (though as minor mistake) abbreviation for a liter, being certain "l" or "ℓ" is the way to go, as that's how I

I was surprised to see "L" as the "only correct" (though as minor mistake) abbreviation for a liter, being certain "l" or "ℓ" is the way to go, as that's how I was taught so far. Turns out that SI actually allows both "l" and "L", but I would only ever use the uppercase if it's a sans-serif font in a non-prefixed unit ("L" as opposed to "ml"). I've never seen any can or bottle using "mL" or "cL". Some of the examples go pretty far too, either calling spelling I'd never see a "common mistake" (like "gr." for grams), or by being too scientifically correct for a casual usage, for example in a press article ("(100 + 200) grams", right). But then I saw "Set the oven to 450 K", and I realized that the examples are to be taken with a grain of salt :)

consp 2y ago
> either calling spelling I'd never see a "common mistake" (like "gr." for grams) Almost all cooking books I have do this (sample size is not big though, and with almost all I mean all except one). I don't know why though, maybe it's an old abbreviation which stuck in certain text types?
- ndsipa_pomu 2y ago
  I've got a serious bugbear with recipes using "cups" as a measure - it infuriates me. Who in their right mind uses a volume measurement for foods that can vary hugely in their size according to how long they've been sitting around?
  - kelnos 2y ago
    The vast majority of home cooking in the US measures in cups. Certainly there are people in-the-know who are going to be more precise and measure by weight, and most restaurant kitchens will probably do so as well. I agree it's not great, but ultimately I've found it doesn't really matter in practice, even for baking most of the time. For regular cooking I do get frustrated when I'm asked to include "2 cups of shredded chicken" or the like, but ultimately it really doesn't matter. Being off won't ruin the recipe, and often more or less of a particular ingredient is a matter of personal taste anyway. I have a kitchen scale, but it's always simpler and easier to grab and use a measuring cup, so that's what I do most of the time, unless the recipe actually calls for weight without giving volume.
    - ndsipa_pomu 2y ago
      I just don't get it - surely homes in the U.S. also have measuring scales? Outside of the U.S., we just go for measuring ingredients by weight which completely gets around the issue of settled ingredients or the inconsistency of measuring things by volume. Why can't recipes just use metric measurements (I'll allow the substitution of grammes for weight rather than newtons) and also provide the quick'n'easy and inaccurate cups measures too?
boxed 2y ago
I live in metric land (Sweden), and I have never seen "gr." for grams and honestly I would probably take a while to understand what it meant.
- ulbu 2y ago
  yea, reads like "grains"
  - kkfx 2y ago
    People do not know much about old cartridge powder measures though :D
    - antonkochubey 2y ago
      Air rifle bullets are typically specified in grains, for example
    - ndsipa_pomu 2y ago
      "Grains" are still used for measuring out powder/chemicals (also arrows). If I saw "gr", I'd interpret that as grains rather than grammes as "g" is definitely grammes, so the extra "r" must signify something.
- jeroenhd 2y ago
  I've seen gr for grams. Not as common as just g, but it does get used every now and then.
- proofrock 2y ago
  Here in Italy is more common than any other form, I'd say
- ivanhoe 2y ago
  In ex-Yugoslavia countries using gr (usually without a dot) for grams used to be a fairly common thing. Last few decades as EU standardization takes place it's a lot rarer to see. Also in Croatia in everyday life people will far more often use decagrams (10g), shorten colloquially as 'deka', than grams - which leads to even more confusion because the SI abbreviation for decagrams is dag, not dg (which is decigram, 0.1g), and it's often mixed - even some primary school books had these typos.
d1sxeyes 2y ago
On the capital L for litre, that’s a suggested rule (second table), not mandatory. I also agree though, there are things there which are decidedly not mistakes (e.g. “mcg”, which is most commonly used to avoid confusion between a sloppily written mu and a sloppily written m. I’ve seen this most commonly in handwriting by doctors and vets)
poulpy123 2y ago
gr. is not uncommon in france. Not in formal publications, but in day to day life you may find it. I know that I use it sometimes
- kkfx 2y ago
  Also avoid confusion with gravity acceleration :D
nayuki 2y ago
> calling spelling I'd never see a "common mistake" (like "gr." for grams) Maybe I should change the example for gram to "gm" (or "GM"), because I actually see that in Canadian supermarkets - on the price label on shelves, not on the product label. > I saw "Set the oven to 450 K", and I realized that the examples are to be taken with a grain of salt I mean, that example exists to reinforce why we should continue using degrees Celsius for everyday temperatures. I'm simultaneously describing what we should do and what we should not do. The statement is less impactful if I only describe the positive example without the negative.

consp 2y ago

> either calling spelling I'd never see a "common mistake" (like "gr." for grams) Almost all cooking books I have do this (sample size is not big though, and with almost all I mean all except one). I don't know why though, maybe it's an old abbreviation which stuck in certain text types?

ndsipa_pomu 2y ago
I've got a serious bugbear with recipes using "cups" as a measure - it infuriates me. Who in their right mind uses a volume measurement for foods that can vary hugely in their size according to how long they've been sitting around?
- kelnos 2y ago
  The vast majority of home cooking in the US measures in cups. Certainly there are people in-the-know who are going to be more precise and measure by weight, and most restaurant kitchens will probably do so as well. I agree it's not great, but ultimately I've found it doesn't really matter in practice, even for baking most of the time. For regular cooking I do get frustrated when I'm asked to include "2 cups of shredded chicken" or the like, but ultimately it really doesn't matter. Being off won't ruin the recipe, and often more or less of a particular ingredient is a matter of personal taste anyway. I have a kitchen scale, but it's always simpler and easier to grab and use a measuring cup, so that's what I do most of the time, unless the recipe actually calls for weight without giving volume.
  - ndsipa_pomu 2y ago
    I just don't get it - surely homes in the U.S. also have measuring scales? Outside of the U.S., we just go for measuring ingredients by weight which completely gets around the issue of settled ingredients or the inconsistency of measuring things by volume. Why can't recipes just use metric measurements (I'll allow the substitution of grammes for weight rather than newtons) and also provide the quick'n'easy and inaccurate cups measures too?

boxed 2y ago

I live in metric land (Sweden), and I have never seen "gr." for grams and honestly I would probably take a while to understand what it meant.

ulbu 2y ago
yea, reads like "grains"
- kkfx 2y ago
  People do not know much about old cartridge powder measures though :D
  - antonkochubey 2y ago
    Air rifle bullets are typically specified in grains, for example
  - ndsipa_pomu 2y ago
    "Grains" are still used for measuring out powder/chemicals (also arrows). If I saw "gr", I'd interpret that as grains rather than grammes as "g" is definitely grammes, so the extra "r" must signify something.
jeroenhd 2y ago
I've seen gr for grams. Not as common as just g, but it does get used every now and then.
proofrock 2y ago
Here in Italy is more common than any other form, I'd say
ivanhoe 2y ago
In ex-Yugoslavia countries using gr (usually without a dot) for grams used to be a fairly common thing. Last few decades as EU standardization takes place it's a lot rarer to see. Also in Croatia in everyday life people will far more often use decagrams (10g), shorten colloquially as 'deka', than grams - which leads to even more confusion because the SI abbreviation for decagrams is dag, not dg (which is decigram, 0.1g), and it's often mixed - even some primary school books had these typos.

d1sxeyes 2y ago

On the capital L for litre, that’s a suggested rule (second table), not mandatory. I also agree though, there are things there which are decidedly not mistakes (e.g. “mcg”, which is most commonly used to avoid confusion between a sloppily written mu and a sloppily written m. I’ve seen this most commonly in handwriting by doctors and vets)

poulpy123 2y ago

gr. is not uncommon in france. Not in formal publications, but in day to day life you may find it. I know that I use it sometimes

kkfx 2y ago
Also avoid confusion with gravity acceleration :D

nayuki 2y ago

> calling spelling I'd never see a "common mistake" (like "gr." for grams) Maybe I should change the example for gram to "gm" (or "GM"), because I actually see that in Canadian supermarkets - on the price label on shelves, not on the product label. > I saw "Set the oven to 450 K", and I realized that the examples are to be taken with a grain of salt I mean, that example exists to reinforce why we should continue using degrees Celsius for everyday temperatures. I'm simultaneously describing what we should do and what we should not do. The statement is less impactful if I only describe the positive example without the negative.