Timeline for How did a "ton" come to mean "one hundred" of something?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
4 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 7, 2017 at 11:08 | comment | added | Miller86 | Still the case in the UK - Only two uses of 100 = "ton" in speech i've heard are the volume and as colloquial for 100 on the motorway (for example, I might say of someone overtaking me recklessly fast on the motorway "Blimy, he must be doing at least a ton"). I've heard of it being used for darts before as well, but the main meanings would be as weight or speed, with the latter being colloquial. | |
| Nov 18, 2017 at 14:53 | comment | added | Humboles | I'm sure the OED has it right, and I accept the ton=100 idea is now pretty ubiquitous. I commented not to claim when the myriad extended senses came into being, but just to say such usages were still virtually unheard of outside the south-east until much more recently—with the exception of the speed example I quoted. | |
| Nov 16, 2017 at 21:49 | comment | added | Laurel♦ | Sorry, 1960 isn't far back enough. According to the OED (quoted here), the ton=100 association goes back to at least 1936 (used in the context of darts). | |
| Nov 16, 2017 at 21:42 | history | answered | Humboles | CC BY-SA 3.0 |