Robbie wondered why we still have lb for pounds.  This is one of my
favourites / favorites!

The British currency is, of course, the Pound.  The symbol for the pound
is a sort of curly L with a horizontal line through it (like the dollar
symbol being a crossed-out S).  It's not low-ascii so I won't try
including it!

The old pre-decimal currency, in more innocent days, was often referred
to as L.S.D. - standing for Librae, solidii and Denarii - i.e. pounds,
shillings and pence in Latin.  Very old books will sometimes use Lib. in
the text rather than a pound symbol.

That's it, then.  A pound weight or cost is libra, hence lb.  Inconsistent
with the cost of Lib., perhaps deliberately?  If you go to Italy, what's
the currency?  The Lira, of course, and the symbol used to represent it
(sometimes, at least -- Italians correct me, please) -- why, it's the same
as the UK pound!  Lira, libra, get it?

There's a lot of this classical stuff around, often in the oddest places.
Perhaps we should really ask why we English use an abbreviation for the
inch?

Julian Dyer

 [ Okay -- is "inch" already an abbreviation?  Also, why is the
 [ abbreviation "Fl" or "FL" used for the Dutch Gilder?  -- Robbie