Whats the origin of “bakers dozen”?
Dear Straight Dope: I can’t find anything on why a baker’s dozen is 13. I heard that it came from the time when royalty had food testers. Thus, the tester got one and the dozen was still intact for the king or queen. For some reason I don’t buy that. Help. — Leslie Matteson I don’t buy it either. I’ve got a much simpler theory, and if you don’t like it I’ve got a slightly more complicated one that doesn’t require us to drag in the royalty. The first theory goes back to ancient times. Bakers were widely viewed with suspicion, since it was common (and easy) for them to short-weight customers. Many societies had severe penalties for bakers who engaged in such underhanded practices. For instance, one source says that in ancient Egypt, the baker’s ear was nailed to the doorpost of his bakery if he were found selling light loaves. (I’m not sure whether the ear was still attached to the baker. Either way it was a pretty stiff punishment.) Under the code of Hammurabi, a loaf of bread and a man
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