How Long Is A Score (And Why?)

Exact Answer : 20 years

Usually, a score is 20 years long i.e 1 score = 20 years. The word score is used as a measurement of time. Originally the term “ Score” has been originated from the Old Norse term “ Skor” which means “Notch, Mark or Incision in Rock.” It has also stated that the word Score has been originated from the Old English term “Scoru” which means “Twenty”.

That is why a score is knowns as 20 years. One of the other definitions of the term score is also available. This term may have come from the Proto-Germanic term “Skur” which means to cut. There are so many other factors and remarks which exhibit the true significance of the term score.

How Long Is A Score?

In the past, the score last so well. In Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg speech, he used this famous term score at that time. He said four score and seven years ago. In his speech, he used this term to refer to 87 years. Four scores are equivalent to 80 and seven years. This speech was made in 1863. As per the Oxford English Dictionary, a score is equal to 20 years. 20 is the natural number following 19 and scouting 21. The term was widely used as a bunch of things and people as score. It helps them in making the count easy.

During the 1400s in English, the score expresses marks made on a chalkboard or wall to keep count of a customer’s drinks in a pub. The score had been used in so many ways. It was also applied to the innkeeper’s bill. At that time, it was used to settle scores and became popular in 1775. From 1927 to 1951 it has obtained new versions of itself. At the beginning of the 20th century, the score was used to define a unit of time. Here is the table which is describing the different terms and their equivalent time.

Why Is A Score So Long?

A score is a group of twenty things or units that are combined with a cardinal number. It can also be used as an indefinitely large number. For example- the scores of people are demanding a refund of the cricket tickets. For measuring days, years, etc the term is widely used. It is depicted with the same designation as that of other time measurements. Units are not subjugated.

Over time, the meaning of the term Score has also been evolved. It has procured so many new meanings now. Now, the term score is used for so many things like garden score, test score, sports game score, and many more. If you are familiar with the Conversion Factor then one can easily convert the score to years.

We all know very well that one score is equivalent to 20 years, so here the conversion factor is 20. To get the number of years, all you have to do is multiply the number of scores by 20. Consequently, if somebody asked you about the number of scores and the number of years is given then you have to divide them rather than multiply.

Conclusion

By observing numerous definitions of the term Score. It has been concluded that the number 20 is used in English to define the terms score. During the 20th century, the English Shepherds used to follow a 20 counting system. In some European languages, there are some traces of base 20 countings in their names of the numbers.

Many people other than the English Shepherds also used base 20 because it was easy to come up to several hundred. Today the term score for 20 is no longer so common. Now, instead of score, they used to prefer a bunch of, a stream of. If you want to use the term, you can still use it in the measurement.

Reference

1. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/09596119510146751/full/html
2. https://europepmc.org/article/med/8992003