[neerdowell]

You mean libel. Slander is spoken, libel is written.

The easy way to remember this distinction is to know that one of the most famous libel cases in history, nicknamed the "McLibel" case, concerned printed pamphlets.

[billsix]

Another way to remember is that "library" and "libel" both come from "liber", meaning "book" in Latin

[umanwizard]

As does "lb.", the abbreviation for pound.

[spiznnx]

No, "lb." comes from "libra" meaning scales or balance, not "liber".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)#Roman_libra

[umanwizard]

Hm, I can't edit my comment anymore, but French wiktionary claims that French "livre" (meaning pound) comes from the Latin word for the measure that weighed about as much as a book. ("livre" also means "book" in French).

I guess "lb." and French "livre" (meaning pound) aren't necessarily related. More likely: wiktionary could be full of shit, meaning I was wrong.

[kgwgk]

You have misunderstood the wiktionary entry:

> Du latin lībra (« poids d’une livre »)

tells you just that the meaning of the latin word is a measure of weight (a pound).

There is no way that can be interpreted as "the weight of a book" (that would be « poids d’un livre »).

[umanwizard]

Oh shit! I read it as "un".

[shanemhansen]

Confession: as a kid I thought it came from 16. Because there are 16oz in a pound.

[smrq]

True or not, that's a decent mnemonic.