A good friend of mine texted me a very good question this weekend, "Why are there 13 in a baker's dozen?" Embarrassingly enough I had no idea! So, faced with the verbal challenge "what kind of a baker are you?", I decided to read up on it! And oh boy, am I glad I did!
The official definition of a baker's dozen by 1864 Hotten's Slang Dictionary reads, "This consists of thirteen or fourteen; the surplus number, called the inbread, being thrown in for fear of incurring the penalty for short weight". Since the way "inbread" is used as a baker's term here made me giggle, I decided to read on...
The definition behind the phrase came about centuries beforehand thanks to the strict regulations of the....(ready for this name)....The Worshipful Company of Bakers (I am not yet a member). Starting with Henry II this groups was tasked with the regulation of trade and bakers, which included a statute in 1266 that regulated the price of bread based on the price of wheat. Per this strict law, "Bakers or brewers who gave short measure could be fined, pilloried or flogged, as in 1477 when the Chronicle of London reported that a baker called John Mund[e]w was 'schryved upon the pyllory' for selling bread that was underweight." Note: my next order of research will be on the definitions of "schryved" and "pyllory".
So, there you have it: The inbread saved the baker's from being flogged, and in an effort to become more "PC" it's now affectionately called "the baker's dozen".
Good story!
The official definition of a baker's dozen by 1864 Hotten's Slang Dictionary reads, "This consists of thirteen or fourteen; the surplus number, called the inbread, being thrown in for fear of incurring the penalty for short weight". Since the way "inbread" is used as a baker's term here made me giggle, I decided to read on...
The definition behind the phrase came about centuries beforehand thanks to the strict regulations of the....(ready for this name)....The Worshipful Company of Bakers (I am not yet a member). Starting with Henry II this groups was tasked with the regulation of trade and bakers, which included a statute in 1266 that regulated the price of bread based on the price of wheat. Per this strict law, "Bakers or brewers who gave short measure could be fined, pilloried or flogged, as in 1477 when the Chronicle of London reported that a baker called John Mund[e]w was 'schryved upon the pyllory' for selling bread that was underweight." Note: my next order of research will be on the definitions of "schryved" and "pyllory".
So, there you have it: The inbread saved the baker's from being flogged, and in an effort to become more "PC" it's now affectionately called "the baker's dozen".
Good story!
Great story! I'm glad I inspired the search for knowledge...
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