tare - verb

Alice Faber faber at HASKINS.YALE.EDU
Wed Dec 28 00:16:46 UTC 2011


On 12/27/11 7:12 PM, Benjamin Barrett wrote:
> Whole Foods has signs saying "tare it up," meaning to weigh your empty containers that you bring from home before filling them up with bulk foods.
>
> Being this is a pun, I don't take it too seriously, but the OED does have this use with citations ranging from 1812 to 1890. Google Books indicates that this has continued in common use up until the present day, at least in technical contexts; perhaps Whole Foods and the green movement will spur this into popular use.
>

Almost all of the promo copy I've seen in ads for digital food scales
(also used in various crafts), refers to the "tare" function. This one
is very similar to the one I bought over 10 years ago.
<http://www.amazon.com/EatSmart-Precision-Digital-Kitchen-Silver/dp/B001N07KUE>
The third feature in the product description is "Tare feature eliminates
the weight of a plate; 3 Minute Auto-Shutoff lets you prepare
ingredients while maintaining battery life".


--
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Alice Faber                                       faber at haskins.yale.edu
Haskins Laboratories                            tel: (203) 865-6163 x258
New Haven, CT 06511 USA                               fax (203) 865-8963

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