The "Tonne"

[BoristheBiter]

I'd rather pay a fine for 1,000kph actually. There's a lid to all that crap and you can drip it up after pleading not guilty and dragging through the courts. Try dripping up a kilo of toot.

i would like to see the vehicle that gave you the ticket, then you could say "i was doing the tonne"

[peasea]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s__36MxVoA8

and even better.............

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to9A1nJoCgM

[peasea]

i would like to see the vehicle that gave you the ticket, then you could say "i was doing the tonne"

I'd like to see the judges' face mate! that'd be gold.

[MSTRS:Me]

Yes there is; 100 of ANYTHING! 100 miles per hour, ton, easy.

Well, for some it is.

Well, duh...yea, easy. But short of Ixion's claim that it is a Romany term, WHY use the word 'ton' for 100 (anything)? There appears to be nothing on the net that clarifies where the term came from.

[boomer]

Somethings are just 'cos. Don't let it eat you up

[Ixion]

My question would be where did it originate from? Since it can be 2,000 or 2,240 lbs it doesn't readilly refer to 100. And a hundredweight is only a part of a Ton. So who was the first person to say "Ton" and mean "One Hundred"....and more to the point why?

"the ton" is nothing whatsoever to do with weight. Note that it is always referred to as "the ton"; or, earlier "a ton" (D H Lawrence uses it thus). They are two complete different words that are spelled the same.

As to who first used it to mean 100 - some random Romany 1000 years ago. Because that's what it meant in his language. As well to ask who ws the first person to stick a chiv into another and why , also a Romany word, with which a Glaswegian should be familiar.

Probably imported into English vernacular through use as part of Cockney slang, as the Churchillian gentleman notes.

[Winston001]

Probably imported into English vernacular through use as part of Cockney slang, as the Churchillian gentleman notes.

Salud.

Romany sounds good to me. To find the etomology would require some expertise in that language and culture. I haven't tried Google Scholar but haven't found any ancient source for ton = 100.

As for the regular avoirdupois ton, that dates from the 13Cen being the space taken up by a "tun" (cask) of wine. By the 15Cen it was firmly established as a measure of weight.

[bogan]

Also applicable is the metric tonne speed threshold, though it is rarely truly acheived. The speed is derived from the equation of momentum, in this case an easily available roughly standardized unit of measure (the deuce) shall contain a momentum with equivalent impact force to that of a tonne (metric 1000kg) weight.

Some Noteworthy Notes:
1) To truly achieve the metric tonne, the vehicular operator must release said unit of measure whilst traveling at such a speed as to impart the necessary momentum.
2) The discrepancy in the weight of the unit of measure used give rise to a range of speeds at which the tonne can be achieved, however >160kmhr is enough in most cases.
3) The method of releasing the standardized measure of weight makes a motorcycle a far easier vehicle choice for achieving the tonne.

[Big Dave]

Cwt.

(20) Hundredweights to the Ton.

Derives to 100mph = a Ton.

[gatch]

A kg of speed would be good.

A tonne would be better.

More so, if the police knew you had a tonne, you would have reason to achieve the ton.

[FJRider]

From Wikipedia...


In Britain, a ton is colloquially used to refer to 100 of a given unit. Ton can thus refer to a speed of 100 miles per hour e.g. "Lee was doing a ton down the motorway"; to money e.g. "How much did you pay for that?" "A ton" (£100); to 100 points in a game e.g. "Eric just threw a ton in our darts game"; or to a hundred of pretty much anything else.
A ton is 100 runs in the game of cricket (more commonly known as a century).

[Brian d marge]

ton

1379, tonne, unit for measuring the carrying capacity of a ship, originally "space occupied by a tun or cask of wine," thus identical to tun (q.v.). The two words were not differentiated until c.1688. The measure of weight is first recorded 1485; the spelling ton is from 1538, and became firmly established 18c. Tonnage (1422) was originally "tax or duty on wine imported in tuns." Modern tonne (1877) is the Fr. form of the word, adopted for Eng. use to denote a metric ton (1,000 kg.).

from the Internet so must be true

Stephen

[BMWST?]

20 hundred weight to the ton.....that makes sense now(not)

[cowboyz]

So if a metric ton is also known as tonne, if my speedo reads in KM and i do 165 kph (roughly) am i doing the ton or the tonne
Or if my vehical puts out 2204.62 FP of torque does it have a ton of power or a tonne of power

Ahhhh the tonne is 2204.62 avoirdupois pounds
2. Avoirdupois = Informal. bodily weight: He carries around a lot of excess avoirdupois.

So the tonne is a fat fuck doing the ton !

holy crap sinful...... you fall over a book or something?

[LBD]

ello sailer....if there was any here which it does not seem.....

1 registered ton shipping term since the beginning of naught,,,,nautical history is a volume measurement equal to 100 cubic feet....

Began back when excise was charged on wine imported/exported, and was charged bythe TUN.

1 TUN = 8 barrells. 8 Barrells stack in a volume of 100 cubic feet.

100 feet then became 1 net registered Ton (TUN) and was a volume measurement

Measure the volume of the cargo hold of wine barrells in cubic feet, divide by 100 and you have the number of Tuns on board.

Interesting to note a tun of wine is 210 gallons and a tun of beer 283 gallons which meant a higher charge was levied on wine per volume.