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RogerBear | 04:57 Thu 29th Dec 2016 | Crosswords
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...and why is QUEEN (I think) "A piece of slate"?
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Buenchico
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From the OED: Queen: A large roofing-slate, measuring approximately three feet by two feet (approx. 0.91 by 0.61 m). Now chiefly hist. (The queen was originally the largest size in a standard system developed at the Penrhyn quarry near Bethesda, Caernarvonshire (now in Gwynedd), in the 18th cent.; its exact size varied at different periods and between...
05:13 Thu 29th Dec 2016
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Avatar Image Buenchico
From the OED:

Queen:
A large roofing-slate, measuring approximately three feet by two feet (approx. 0.91 by 0.61 m). Now chiefly hist.

(The queen was originally the largest size in a standard system developed at the Penrhyn quarry near Bethesda, Caernarvonshire (now in Gwynedd), in the 18th cent.; its exact size varied at different periods and between different quarries).
05:13 Thu 29th Dec 2016
Avatar Image RogerBear
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Oh dear, how tantalizing! I wonder if it's perhaps rhyming slang?
05:14 Thu 29th Dec 2016
Avatar Image Buenchico
^^^ Unlikely in Wales, I would think!

It's probably akin to modern bed sizes where, perhaps surprisingly, a 'queen' is larger than a 'king'. (i.e. it's simply an indicator of size).
05:22 Thu 29th Dec 2016
Avatar Image RogerBear
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Superb answer, thank you! In the US, though, a king-size bed is considerably larger than a queen.
11:05 Thu 29th Dec 2016

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