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A lot of old abbreviations seem add letters that aren't there in the word. It was about establishing a recognizable shorthand, not just removing letters.
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I think I saw that somewhere in my googling last night.
Problem is, I haven't seen it used in context yet (like on a carbo manifest). But, that could definitely explain it.
Yes, but they still could've used "brl", instead of injecting an additional 'b' that isn't in the word itself.
I think the actual origins are probably one of those things lost to time - especially given how ubiquitous it became, most people back then never thought about it much at all once it became the norm.
A lot of old abbreviations seem add letters that aren't there in the word. It was about establishing a recognizable shorthand, not just removing letters.
Examples
lb -> From "Libre pound" showing scales constellation (Libra) indicating pound as weight, so "lb" for pound where neither letter in 'pound'.
oz -> From Italian onza- from unit of weight, the twelfth part of a pound, early 14c., from Old French once, unce, a measure of weight or time (12c.), from Latin uncia "one-twelfth part" (of a pound, a foot, etc.), from Latin unus "one" (from PIE root *oi-no- "one, unique"). The Latin word had been adopted in Old English as ynce .
Now that I look, most Imperial (and most metric) are pulled from abbreviating the Latin word probably to sound all high brow or something, but I can't find anything for bbl, also called "baril" in Latin with no extra 'b' anyway.