Editing Dozen (section)

==Baker's dozen==
{{redirect|Baker's dozen}}

A '''baker's dozen''', '''devil's dozen''',<ref>{{citation|title=Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary|contribution=devil's dozen|url= https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/devil%27s%20dozen}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Concise Oxford English Dictionary: Luxury Edition |chapter= devil – phrases: the devil's dozen |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sYScAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA392|volume=12|page=392|year=2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn = 9780199601110}}</ref> or '''long dozen''' is [[13 (number)|13]], one more than a standard dozen. The broadest use of ''baker's dozen'' today is simply a group of thirteen objects (often baked goods).<ref>{{citation|title=Webster's II New College Dictionary|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company|isbn=0395962145|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/webstersiinewcol00unse|author=Webster|year=1999}}.</ref> The term has meant different things over the last few centuries.

In [[England]], when selling certain goods, bakers were obliged to sell goods by the dozen at a specific weight or quality (or a specific average weight). During this time, bakers who sold a dozen units that failed to meet this requirement could be penalized with a fine. Therefore, to avoid risking this penalty, some bakers included an extra unit to be sure the minimum weight was met, bringing the total to 13 units or what is now commonly known as a baker's dozen.<ref>{{citation|title=The Baker's Helper|publisher=Clissold Publishing Company|year=1921|volume=36|page=562|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gbk2AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA562|contribution=The Baker's Dozen}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.britannica.com/story/why-is-a-bakers-dozen-13 | title=Why Is a Baker's Dozen 13? | publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica | access-date=2022-11-30 | last=Eldridge | first=Alison }}</ref> The thirteenth piece of bread is called the [[vantage loaf]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable|publisher=Cassel and Co|year=2000|isbn=0304350966|location=London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780304350964/page/1227 1227]|title-link=Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable}}</ref>

According to the [[Oxford English Dictionary]], the term "baker's dozen" originated in the late 16th century and is "apparently so called after the former practice among bakers of including a thirteenth loaf when selling a dozen to a retailer, the extra loaf representing the retailer's profit."<ref>{{citation|title=Oxford English Dictionary|year=2010|edition=3rd|isbn=9780191727665|last1=Stevenson|first1=Angus|publisher=Oxford University Press }}.</ref>

According to the 1811 ''[[Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue]]'', by [[Francis Grose]], "a Baker's Dozen is Thirteen; that number of rolls being allowed to the purchaser of a dozen".<ref>{{citation|author=Francis Grose|author-link=Francis Grose|title=Classical Dictionary of the vulgar tongue|year= 2007|page=18|edition=unabridged|orig-year=1811}}.</ref> However, contrary to most sources, according to the anonymous 1785 version of that dictionary, which was probably also by Grose, "a Baker's Dozen is Fourteen, that number of rolls being allowed to the purchaser of a dozen".<ref>{{citation|author=Francis Grose|title=A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar tongue|year=1785|page=19|orig-year=1785}}.</ref>

The term has also been defined in a [[jocular]] way, as "twelve of today's and one of yesterday's."{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}}

The term has also jokingly been described as "A dozen and the baker made one extra for himself."

A lesser-used regionalism is the Texas dozen, which generally consists of 15. This is typically used only in [[Texas]] and surrounding areas for such goods as flowers or baked goods, although can be applied to anything that is counted, such as photographs.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ci4EAAAAMBAJ&dq=what+is+%22texas+dozen%22&pg=PA60 | title=Texas Monthly | date=April 1980 | url-status=dead }}</ref>