Editing Tael (section)

== Names ==

The English word ''tael'' comes through [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] from the [[Malay language|Malay]] word {{lang|ms|tahil}}, meaning "weight". Early English forms of the name such as "tay" or "taes" derive from the Portuguese plural of tael, {{lang|pt|taeis}}.

'''Tahil''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|t|ɑː|h|ɪ|l}} in [[Singaporean English]])<ref>[http://www.singlishdictionary.com/singlish_T.htm#tahil "Tahil" entry] at A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English.</ref> is used in Malay ''and'' English today when referring to the weight in [[Malaysia]], [[Singapore]], and [[Brunei]], where it is still used in some contexts especially related to the significant [[Overseas Chinese]] population.

In Chinese, tael is written {{lang|zh-Hant|{{linktext|兩}}}} (simplified as {{lang|zh-Hans|{{linktext|两}}}}) and has the [[Standard Chinese|Mandarin]] pronunciation ''liǎng''. The phrase "half a catty, eight taels" {{nowrap|({{lang-zh|{{linktext|半斤八兩}}}},}} ''bàn jīn, bā liǎng'') is still used to mean two options are exactly equivalent, similar to the English "six of one, half a dozen of the other".