"If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent" (essextee) 08/10/2017 at 17:14 • Filed to: None

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Why is “bbl” the abbreviation for “barrel”? Where did the extra b come from?

MonkeePuzzle > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 08/10/2017 at 17:16

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lbs <—- explain that

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > MonkeePuzzle 08/10/2017 at 17:17

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Lpounbs

benjrblant > MonkeePuzzle 08/10/2017 at 17:19

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From the latin “Libra” meaning “scale or balance”

But in all of the asinine things in the imperial measurement system, lbs is by far the least offensive. Don’t even get me started.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 08/10/2017 at 17:20

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LMGTFY:

In the early 1860's, when oil production began, there was no standard container for oil, so oil and petroleum products were stored and transported in barrels of all different shapes and sizes (beer barrels, fish barrels, molasses barrels, turpentine barrels, etc.). By the early 1870's, the 42-gallon barrel had been adopted as the standard for oil trade. This was 2 gallons per barrel more than the 40-gallon standard used by many other industries at the time. The extra 2 gallons was to allow for evaporation and leaking during tranport (most barrels were made of wood). Standard Oil began manufacturing 42 gallon barrels that were blue to be used for transporting petroleum. The use of a blue barrel, abbreviated “bbl,” guaranteed a buyer that this was a 42-gallon barrel .

TheHondaBro > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 08/10/2017 at 17:23

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lone_liberal > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 08/10/2017 at 17:23

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It came from “bitchin’!” The more bbl the more bitchin’.

DutchieDC2R > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 08/10/2017 at 17:36

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I always thought BBL stood for Big Beautiful Lettuce...no wonder the salespeople at the veggie market stalls looked weird at me...

user314 > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 08/10/2017 at 17:39

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Per the Wiki :

The “b” may have been doubled originally to indicate the plural (1 bl, 2 bbl), or possibly it was doubled to eliminate any confusion with bl as a symbol for the bale . Some sources assert that “bbl” originated as a symbol for “blue barrels” delivered by Standard Oil in its early days. However, while Ida Tarbell’s 1904 Standard Oil Company history acknowledged the “holy blue barrel”, the abbreviation “bbl” had been in use well before the 1859 birth of the U.S. petroleum industry.

S65 > TheHondaBro 08/10/2017 at 17:56

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If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 08/10/2017 at 18:08

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That’s fine and dandy but I’m talking about carburetors.

ttyymmnn > MonkeePuzzle 08/10/2017 at 18:15

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lb c omes from the Latin word libra , meaning scales or balances which also described a Roman unit similar to the pound.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > user314 08/10/2017 at 18:20

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Now put that in context of carburetors...

user314 > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 08/10/2017 at 20:54

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Ahh. In that case venturi are called ‘barrels’ due to how they resemble gun barrels. The abbreviation bbl is technically being misused in that case, but that ship has long since sailed.