Monday, July 1, 2019

Question of the Day #389

"Baker's Dozen: 13 Policy Areas that Require Congressional Action"
From the headline of this article at the Project On Government Oversight .

上記の文で、baker's dozenの意味は？
In the sentence above, what does "baker's dozen" mean?

答えは、コメントに書いてください。
Write your answer in the Comments.

明日、ここに答えを書きます。
I will add the answer and other remarks here tomorrow.

解答

意味：
英辞郎によると、

《a ～》13個組◆【語源】かつてパン屋が1ダースの製品を売る場合、目方不足の予防策として1個おまけをつけたことより

Answer

According to The Idioms:
  1. not 12 in numbers but 13
  2. a group or set of thirteen
  3. usually 13 and rarely 14

Etymology/語源

The Idioms によると、
この表現は初めて使用されたのが、1599年のJohn Cookeの著書のTu Quoqueです。
しかし、イギリスのパン屋さんが12斤のパンを売った時に一斤オマケにする習慣はさらに昔に始まったものです。1154年にイギリス王ヘンリー2世は、The Worshipful Company of Bakersという売買規定の中にパンの価格を小麦の価格に連動させたのです。もし、価格に見合わない量のパンが売買された場合、罰金・さらし台にさらす・ムチウチ等の罰を受けました。量（斤の数）ではなくパンの目方で罪か否かが決まったので、12斤を売ったパン屋は確実に目方が十分あるように1斤オマケにつけたのです。

According to The Idioms :

The phrase’s literary origin dates back to 1599 when John Cooke used it in his work called “Tu Quoque”. But the actual practice of English baker’s adding an extra loaf of bread when they sold 12 breads dates back to much earlier. In 1154, when Henry II was in power, he had introduced a trade guide within which the statute managing bakers was called “The Worshipful Company of Bakers”. Bakers were to price the bread in line with the price of wheat. The punishment for the weight falling short included fining, pillorying or flogging. The rule was about the weight of the bread and not the number and hence whenever bakers sold a dozen they would warily add an identical extra loaf, for good measure. This was done so that the total weight of the purchase would not be short.

Examples

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