Measurement confusion

[commodore]

What does c stand for? Cup? And T (capital)?

[Anneke]

T is probably tablespoon and c is cup but why don't you give us the context. Easier if we can see the recipe. Also makes a difference if the recipe was translated from another language. T in French is cup for example.

[Suzanne]

Assuming you are looking at an American (US of A) recipe, yes,
c = cup
T = tablespoon.

[professional annoyance ON] As a cookbook editor, I HATE HATE HATE to see recipes written in such a confusing way. I'll bet you're looking at a recipe on the Internet, where no one enforces any standards. [professional annoyance OFF]

[commodore]

Thanks people. Yes, the recipe is from the web. I too don't like it when people publish things written for themselves to understand

[GhettoRacingKid]

T= Tablespoon
t = teaspoon

in USA. think that the T(tablespoon) is bigger then the t (teaspoon)

[Ishbel]

C can also be used for Centrigade as in oven temperatures!

[RouxTheDay]

While I agree that it can be annoying to run across these abbreviations in modern sources, you need to recognize is that this is a VERY old style of notation. It's not laziness or sloppiness on the part of the person providing the recipe. It's something he or she was either taught (in school, at home, etc.), or is the way an old, original recipe was written. It's not an incorrect form, it's just fallen out of favor, largely because it's not compatible with things being done globally. Even as recently as the 1970s, when I took my first "foods" class in junior high, it was taught as the "standard" recipe notation!

The posts above are correct in defining the abbreviations (assuming the "c" isn't indicating Celsius, which is unlikely in this case) used in what has become a mostly outdated, but once standard method of noting the following American measurements:

t. (lower case) = tsp. = teaspoon (5 ml or 5 cc)
T. (upper case) = Tblsp. = Tablespoon (3 US teaspoons or 0.5 US fluid ounces)
C. or c. = cup (8 US fluid ounces or 237 ml, sometimes listed as 240 ml)

Other common US abbreviations are oz. for ounces, pt. for pint (16 US fluid ounces), qt. orQ. for quart (32 US fluid ounces), lb. or # for pound (16 US dry ounces). A pinch is often described as being about 1/16th of a teaspoon, but it's a very loose definition.

My grievances are with the USA's stubborn refusal to go metric (so much easier and more accurate), and with recipes that don't provide both weights and volume measures for dry ingredients, since weight is much more accurate. I generally make conversion notations in any recipe I use fairly regularly, at least from volume to weight, if not to metric.


Note to Suzanne, since you're a cookbook editor:

If I were writing a cookbook, I'd provide both US and metric measures, and always provide equivalent weight measures for dry ingredients, right in the recipe... ;-)