Cuddled up and cosy and licking their soft fluffy coats, the basket of cute kittens purred every now and then.
“There’s a dozen of them in the basket!” I exclaimed.
“There’s one more than a dozen; a baker’s dozen ,” said Papa, most disapprovingly.
“You’re right, Papa. There are 13 kittens; but how is that a baker’s dozen ?”
“Request a dozen eggs, a dozen steaks, and you will most certainly receive 12 of it. But a baker’s dozen counts to 13,” explained Papa.
That triggered my curiosity, and here is the story from medieval England about how a baker’s dozen became 13.
In medieval England, bakers who were found to be “cheating” their customers by overpricing undersized loaves were subject to strict punishment, including fines or flogging. While baking, there can be fluctuations in the rising of the dough and air content in it, and many of these bakers didn’t have scales to weigh their dough. For fear of accidentally coming up short, the bakers would throw in a bit extra to make sure that they wouldn’t end up with a surprise flogging, later.
So, a baker’s dozen is 13 of something. And when you see an extra doughnut added to your dozen, you can say, “That’s a baker’s dozen of doughnuts!”
