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General => The Common Room => Topic started by: phill100 on Friday 30 April 10 21:33 BST (UK)
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Greetings
A French graveyard certificate described the dimensions of a grave as "3 and a half "pics" and 1 and a half "pics" " (in French, of course, but the word "pic" is from the certificate)
Does anyone know how long a "pic" is?
Many thanks
Phill
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Hi Phill
I have tried to search for the French "Pics " but without success. As we cannot see the document , could it have been Pied ? That is the nearest, that I can find which is about a foot in our measurement.
Nainmaddie
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Pic
Pic noun [ Confer French pic .] A Turkish cloth measure, varying from 18 to 28 inches.
Found on http://www.encyclo.co.uk/webster/P/83
This is the only reference I could find - hope it helps.
Philippa
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Many thanks Nainmaddie - we thought at first it might have been Pied or Pied de Roi, but it seems more likely to be "pic"
And many thanks Philippa - your discovery may well be the clue we have been looking for, as the family also has a strong Turkish connection
Regards
Phill
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Phill - You are more than welcome.
I enjoyed the chase for information and was suprised that I actually found the articles on measurement and terminology very interesting. Don't tell me I'm developing some sort of scientific orientation after all these years - my husband would be shocked out of his socks!!!
;D
I just hope that snippet leads to bigger and better things!!!
Good luck,
Philippa
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Another similar reference on A Dictionary of Units of Measurement:
http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/dictP.html#pik
When I first came to live in the Eastern Mediterranean I used to buy fabric by the pik, equivalent to an arm's length. Sometimes it was sold by weight -- the cut length of material was weighed on old fashioned scales.
Also used to buy potatoes by the oke (about 2˝lbs) but everything is metric now.
:)