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#104441 05/29/03 07:11 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
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wwh Offline OP
Carpal Tunnel
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I wasted an hour reading a short story by Robert Louis Stevenson, entitled "Markheim". How could the guy who wrote "Treasure Island" write such a piece of crap? A sermon disguised as a short story.
But I got one good word out of it.
"to sow tares in the wheat field,
I learned that word in a Chem lab course, in which we synthesized and purified a series of compounds, and were judged by purity and yield of the product.
We had to label the small glass stoppered bottles in which we submitted our products with among other things, the "tare weight" which was the weight of the bottle and label.
In commerce tare weight is the weight of the container.
From ancient times harvested grain contained weed seeds and stems. Many Bible quotations refer to the tares. Apparently there were enough tares in grain when it was sold, that the buyer had to esitmate the proportion of tares mixed with the grain, and lower his offer for the grain proportionately. Today some kinds of packages will state the "tare weight" meaning the weight of the container.

tare 1
n.
5ME, small seed, vetch < or akin to MDu tarwe, wheat < IE base *derwa3, kind of grain > Sans dNrva, millet grass: used in ME and Early ModE versions of N.T. to transl. LL(Ec) zizania, darnel6
1 any of several vetches, esp. the common vetch (Vicia sativa)
2 the seed of any of these plants
3 Bible a noxious weed thought to be darnel: Matt. 13:25-40

tare 2
n.
5LME < MFr < It tara, prob. < Ar ParaSa, to reject, throw, cast6
1 the weight of a container, wrapper, vehicle, etc. deducted from the total weight to determine the weight of the contents or load
2 the deduction of this
vt.
tared, tar4ing to find out, allow for, or mark the tare of

tare3 7ter8
vt., vi.
archaic or dial. pt. & pp. of TEAR1



#104442 05/29/03 07:13 PM
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Pooh-Bah
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Your post brings tares to my eyes, Bill. Honest!


#104443 05/29/03 08:22 PM
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Carpal Tunnel
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Re: Today some kinds of packages will state the "tare weight" meaning the weight of the container.

yup, deli counters in grocery stores (at least in NYC!) do it all the time.. they have sealed 'tare' contaniners, that they use to zero out the scale, before weighing out your potato salad or what ever!

butchers do it to, they have wrapped stryroform trays, with plastic wrap, and a lable, too! and they have had these for years! (i remember them from when i visited my father in the 1950's &60's, he was an A&P butcher.)


#104444 06/03/03 10:12 PM
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old hand
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When trucks are weighed, the gross weight minus the tare weight will equal the net weight.




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