4 ms·

Beer used to be sold in butts. The butt of beer was equal to half a tun, two hogsheads, three barrels or 108 imperial gallons (491.0 l). http://en.wikipedia.o

by andyl 12y ago

Beer used to be sold in butts. The butt of beer was equal to half a tun, two hogsheads, three barrels or 108 imperial gallons (491.0 l). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_brewery_cask_units http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_brewery_cask_units

msandford 12y ago
You learn something new every day! Thanks for that.
schoen 12y ago
Hey, all of those are in GNU units except the tun and the butt! (But they have winetun and winebutt, which are clearly different from the beer units.)
- sp332 12y ago
  What about a methbutt?
simplexion 12y ago
"The important thing was I had an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time."
Theodores 12y ago
...and a 'water butt' is probably how rural folk in England best know that term. A 'water butt' filled up with rainwater from the gutters was what you used to water the garden with, drown excess kittens in and so on. Oddly, growing up with 'everyone' having a 'water butt', a 'butt' was a big container full of water, only with the internet and the consequent invasion of Americanisms have I learned a 'butt' is a 'bottom'.
logfromblammo 12y ago
The drinking water on board sailing ships was stored in a butt, which had been scuttled (holed) to withdraw the water. Sailors would gather around the scuttled butt to take their water ration, and exchange rumors and gossip, which was shortened to "scuttlebutt". This has a direct analog in the office water cooler. It is therefore also entirely appropriate to measure information of dubious provenance in terms of buttloads. That is easily extended to time spent on the Internet, for obvious reasons. Assloads, on the other hand, refer to the use of donkeys as a pack animal, and would be more appropriate for non-pourable items, which could be balanced across the backside of the animal, or strapped on (to a pack saddle). I am, sadly, unaware of the history behind the fuckton, or its metric equivalent.

by andyl 12y ago

msandford 12y ago

You learn something new every day! Thanks for that.

schoen 12y ago

Hey, all of those are in GNU units except the tun and the butt! (But they have winetun and winebutt, which are clearly different from the beer units.)

sp332 12y ago
What about a methbutt?

simplexion 12y ago

"The important thing was I had an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time."

Theodores 12y ago

...and a 'water butt' is probably how rural folk in England best know that term. A 'water butt' filled up with rainwater from the gutters was what you used to water the garden with, drown excess kittens in and so on. Oddly, growing up with 'everyone' having a 'water butt', a 'butt' was a big container full of water, only with the internet and the consequent invasion of Americanisms have I learned a 'butt' is a 'bottom'.

logfromblammo 12y ago

The drinking water on board sailing ships was stored in a butt, which had been scuttled (holed) to withdraw the water. Sailors would gather around the scuttled butt to take their water ration, and exchange rumors and gossip, which was shortened to "scuttlebutt". This has a direct analog in the office water cooler. It is therefore also entirely appropriate to measure information of dubious provenance in terms of buttloads. That is easily extended to time spent on the Internet, for obvious reasons. Assloads, on the other hand, refer to the use of donkeys as a pack animal, and would be more appropriate for non-pourable items, which could be balanced across the backside of the animal, or strapped on (to a pack saddle). I am, sadly, unaware of the history behind the fuckton, or its metric equivalent.