Talk:Baker's dozen

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I think the explaination given for the bakers dozen is wrong- I was always told that in ancient times that bread was sold by weight, and the punishment for being underweight was severe- your hand was chopped off. So bakers always used to give 13 for the price of 12 to be certain of not being underweight. A search on google supplies some people who support my theory.—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 128.243.220.41 (talk • contribs) .

It dates back to the statute of Henry III, 13th century, Middle Ages. Even if there is evidence of similar practices in other "Ancient" civilizations (Asia, Rome, etc..) other cultures could have called it somthing else entirely. "Baker's dozen" is an English term which originated with the 13th century English statute. --Stbalbach 05:48, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Shipley

Another meaning of a bakers dozen in the town of Shipley (England) is a series of thirteen forward rolls done in succession - (preferably down a hill)

I have removed the above passage from the article as non-notable and unverifiable. If someone can cite a source and put forward a reason why this should be included here, please feel free to do so and return it to the article. Kafziel 14:03, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] sacrifice to the devil

This sounds like typical "medieval" folklore (more likely with origins post-Enlightenment) -- if it's going to be included in the article, it needs to have some really solid sources, because all the investigation I have done on this subject it has never come up. I believe it to be "false" in a Snopes sort of way. -- Stbalbach 23:08, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

Sorry, that was a joke. I was in a joking mood. I wanted to see that on Wikipedia:Bad_jokes_and_other_deleted_nonsense though. 69.19.14.35 00:21, 27 June 2006 (UTC)

As they say in the movies, "oh be-have". Seriously, though, we are trying to write an encyclopedia here, so don't make joke edits. Some readers looking for a serious article might not find them amusing. Remember, millions of people read Wikipedia, so we have to take what we do a bit seriously here. If you'd like to experiment with editing, try the sandbox, where you can write whatever you want (as long as it's not offensive). Maybe you should check out Wikipedia:Bad Jokes and Other Deleted Nonsense.

[edit] bakers dozen

The fact that bakers sell items by the dozen begs the question---why a dozen instead of ten. Is this related in some way to 12 inches in a foot? Inquiring minds want to know. Legrand7