The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #104750   Message #2149408
Posted By: Q (Frank Staplin)
14-Sep-07 - 04:27 PM
Thread Name: Folklore: Expressions lost/gained with SI measures
Subject: RE: Folklore: Expressions lost/gained with SI measures
Clicks for kph used in Canada also.

A league can vary from 2.4 to 4.6 statute miles (OED). Depended on country, time period, etc. Probably other distances as well.
The Oxford Dictionary says that "Although the league appears never to have been an English measure, leuca occurs somewhat frequently in Anglo-Latin law-books ---; it is disputed whether in these works it means one mile or two."
"A marine league is 3 nautical miles or 3041 fathoms." OED

I have a Scottish pewter jug called a tappet hen- My Sc. glossary calls it a quart measure. Can't find it in OED. Burns mentioned it in a poem.

I remember a country song in which the 'back forty' is mentioned (the back 40 acres of a quarter section). And one mentioning a 'section line.'