tare - verb

[Victor Steinbok]

OK, I found one, after some trial and error. It's not supermarket, but
the gerund is essentially the same.

http://goo.gl/vga1L
Textbook of clinical chemistry. By Norbert W. Tietz. 1986
p. 31
> Before weighing a chemical, the weight of the container must be
> determined or allowed for by taring to reset the equilibrium point.

But, in this case, the likely meaning is to "tare" the balance/scale,
not the container, which, I believe, is the original meaning.

Interestingly, when the word was borrowed into Russian, as "tara", it
now means "refillable or returnable container" (and it's been this way
as long as I can recall, from 1970s--likely much longer).

Lots of hits for "tared" in various US standards documents and in
laboratory procedures manuals, referring usually to lab glassware,
filters and other such equipment. OED only has "tared" under tare v.
with two citations from 1854. Both tare v. and tare n.2 need an update.

     VS-)


On 12/28/2011 3:24 AM, Benjamin Barrett wrote:
> The meanings are so close, it would be nice to define "tare" to encompass both.
>
> Clearly I missed all the memos on taring....
>
> Last time I was at the deli, the meat was weighed on a piece of plastic whose weight was (surely) negligible, and then the meat was wrapped.
>
> BB
>
> On Dec 27, 2011, at 10:45 PM, Victor Steinbok wrote:
>
>> There is another meaning of the combination "tare up" that predates
>> Whole Foods. When you buy bulk items in plastic containers, the cashier
>> is supposed to push the "tare" button to deduct the expected weight of
>> the container to lower the "zero" of the scale (or is "to raise the
>> zero"?*). To perform this function is to "tare up" the product--or, at
>> least, it was in the 1980s. The same happens when the containers are
>> prepackaged, although, in this case, the scale is zeroed out with an
>> empty container, prior to packaging.
>>
>> Deli counters also used to subtract the supposed weight of the wrapping
>> material prior to weighing, but I am not sure this is still done.
>> Perhaps that's one way for supermarkets to push up the margins.
>>
>>      VS-)
>>
>> *: I believe, mathematically, you "raise the zero", in order to get the
>> "negative weight" of the tare, prior to weighing the product. But, in
>> practice, the expression might be in reverse.
>>
>> On 12/27/2011 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.
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