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The abbreviation ‘lbs’ for ‘pounds’ comes from the Roman ‘libre pondo’ meaning ‘a pound by weight’.
This is also the reason the symbol for Libra in the zodiac is scales (Libra is the only sign represented by an inanimate object).
I just learnt this today, and I can’t believe I never noticed before now that ‘lbs’ for ‘pounds’ is weird. I always just mentally glossed over it.
This is also why the symbol for a British pound Sterling is a stylised "L".
Edit: the currency was at one time backed by silver, so 1 GBP used to be = 1 lbs silver.
Similarly...Americans size wire carpentry nails as some number followed by a d. 16d nails are most common for nailing together two-by lumber as standard in structures, 8d are used for one-by lumber trim or plywood.
The d is pronounced 'penny'. And like most of the stupid little stuff we do, it's the Limeys' fault.
Back when the UK had three moneys rather than two, they abbreviated pound as L (as above), shilling as S and, for some crumpet eating reason, pence as d. At some point in history, nails were sold in lots of 100, and different sizes at different prices. A box of large framing nails might cost 16 pence, a box of small tacks might cost 4 pence. The terminology has pretty much stuck to this day.
The d symbol for the English penny, comes from the Carolingian denarius, the smallest denomination in the currency of Frank King Charlemagne's empire, which became the model currency for several European currencies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny
See? I knew there was some crumpet eating reason.
The Spanish word for pounds (as a unit of weight) is Libre ... which also means freedom.
Now I'm wondering why Inches are called Pulgadas. And now I'm wondering why Inches are called Inches in English ...
No, libra (the unit of mass), and libre (being free) have unrelated origins, afaik. Libra comes from scales, as in the Libra constellation, wheveas libre comes from liber, related to freedom (and not books (or "libro" in Spanish); that's a different word), which apparently comes from even older languages, meaning "town" or "people".
Ah OK, I've only ever heard it spoken! (And rarely, only when dealing with American service manuals)
An inch is about a thumb's width and if I remember my guitar lesson correctly, isn't pulgadas similar to the word for thumb?
Thumb is pulgar, so that's plausible