The word “pounds” does not have the letter L in it. Nor does it have a B. Yet if you see the three letters “lbs” written out, you almost certainly read it as “pounds.” Where did this seemingly random abbreviation come from?
Well, it has to do with where the word “pounds,” itself, comes from. “Pounds” derives from the name of an ancient Roman unit of measurement, Libra pondo. This Latin phrase translates to “a pound by weight.” Our word “pound” comes from pondo, and its seemingly unrelated abbreviation, “lb,” comes from the libra part. If you’re asking, “Libra like the Zodiac sign?” the answer is actually yes…sort of. The word libra means “weight” or “scales,” hence why the star sign Libra represents the scales of justice. (If you’re a libra, learn the Zodiac sign you should never date!)
“Pound”‘s Latin origins are also the reason the symbol for the British currency, pounds, is an L—L for libra! The currency shares its name with a unit of weight because a British pound originally held the same worth as one lb of silver. We actually owe much of our modern alphabet to the ancient Romans; here’s why.
So both parts of the Latin term live on today, through the vocabularies of money- and weight-conscious individuals throughout the English-speaking world. (Interested in shedding some lbs? Here are 13 nutritionist-approved weight-loss tips.) As for the “pound” symbol on your keyboard…well, that’s a whole different story. Learn the truth about its name here (no, “hashtag” is not its official name).
from Reader's Digest http://ift.tt/2y4WehJ
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