What does "pound for pound" mean?
Posted by SomeDudeOnRedit@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 131 comments
I hear this all the time, "Pound for pound, she is the best bakery chef in America."
"Pound for pound, Alaskan mosquitoes are the worst."
Is this a boxing reference I don't get? Is it just a way to add emphasis?
DesignerSeparate4166@reddit
" we on twitter... pound sign URL.." -smidddddack.
Fantastic-String-285@reddit
It’s originally from boxing where someone might fight in a lower weight class but have more skill. People would argue about who the best boxer was, pound for pound, meaning “adjusted for weight.” It’s now used outside of this context, mostly as a simple intensifier. Weight class doesn’t have any meaning in the context of pastry chefs.
taranathesmurf@reddit
I never knew it came from boxing. I always thought it referred to comparing let us say a pound of butter to a pound of flour and which was the better value.
Mr_Kittlesworth@reddit
I don’t believe it’s meant to be an intensifier - it’s meant to mean “all else being equal.”
Fantastic-String-285@reddit
Intensifier isn’t necessarily the right word, but it’s usually safe to remove it from most sentences without changing the meaning too much.
des1gnbot@reddit
I’d say it means, “within their class.” Using the pastry chef example, it’d indicate something about the class or price point of the establishment they’re at—you wouldn’t compare a pastry chef at a fancy French patisserie to the one at my local donut shop, so if I called the local donut guy “pound for pound the best pastry chef I’ve tasted,” it’d be an indication to only compare at that low price point, convenience food level, not to compare him to someone at a Michelin star restaurant.
IceExtreme5574@reddit
That wouldn’t be pound for pound then. Pound for pound would mean the local donut guy would be better than the fancy patisserie if they were in the same class. That’s specifically what it means for fighters. If a flyweight was a better pound for pound fighter than a heavyweight, if you could wave a magic wand have them be the same size in the same class the flyweight would be the better fighter.
NegaDoug@reddit
That, and it can be used to say that something has comparatively more worth/utility, is more valuable monetarily, or is more potent.
"Pound for pound, the ZX Processor performs only slightly worse than the YQ Processor, but it costs half as much, so we rate it as our editor's choice for best value."
"Pound for pound, Platinum costs more than Gold."
"Pound for pound, Botulin Toxin is the strongest neurotoxin known to humans."
FunTXCPA@reddit
You sure about that last sentence? If you had to choose between a 130lbs pastry chef and a 250lbs pastry chef, who are you choosing?
EXACTLY!
/s
Ok-Ambassador8271@reddit
I think I'll die of beat us.
MiserableOptimist1@reddit
Wilfred Brimley has entered the chat.
Have you considered eating your doctor?
ELMUNECODETACOMA@reddit
Fun fact:
Wilford Brimley was 49 when he filmed "Cocoon"
Keanu Reeves turned 54 and Halle Berry turned 52 during the filming of "John Wick 3"
stefanica@reddit
If you are a pastry chef, would it still be keto?
ELMUNECODETACOMA@reddit
That would be a really interesting rewatch of food television competitions - how often does the "hottest" of the two competitors win? Subjectively, I'd say "more than you'd think but still not quite 50/50".
Old_Goat_Ninja@reddit
Never trust a skinny chef
Proud-Delivery-621@reddit
I remember seeing an interview with Gordon Ramsey actually, who said that most good chefs are not heavy because running a kitchen is very physically demanding and if you don't work out in your spare time you won't be able to handle it.
lazygerm@reddit
I agree, but Ramsey was on track to be a professional footballer before an injury led him to turn to cooking.
He was already an active person.
Scavgraphics@reddit
Or an Elf!
nyet-marionetka@reddit
You go to the skinny chef, because they must be buying their pastries from the only other chef in town.
pikkdogs@reddit
I guess it depends on what you are choosing them for?
Terrin369@reddit
I think the meaning has shifted to “all things being equal”. So while weight doesn’t apply to pastry chefs, you could say that she’s the best at her level, meaning education or the types of pastries she specializes in.
Dangerous-Safe-4336@reddit
I just figured she was tiny.
NoGrapefruit3394@reddit
You could imagine this use in the context of a cake baker vs. a croissant baker, their domains are different, but the cake baker is better (say).
JuventAussie@reddit
Have you not heard the adage "Never trust a skinny chef"?
A skinny chef is demonstrably worse as they don't continuously taste their food promoting weight gain. Though it is less so for pastry chefs as they make pastries in large batches thus requiring less tasting.
MayorPoopenmeyer@reddit
Skinny chefs taste their food and also do an insane amount of cocaine. Their kitchens are also very clean.
markmakesfun@reddit
And they smoke incessantly!
theangrypragmatist@reddit
Cocaine AND cigarettes? In this economy?
PraxicalExperience@reddit
Man, you're going to upper-class places if your skinny chefs do an insane amount of cocaine. Mine tend to be more meth-class.
Lovebeingadad54321@reddit
The person who throws chicken in a fryer at KFC doesn’t count as a chef….
for_the_shiggles@reddit
You have no clue what you’re talking about.
sadrice@reddit
Constantly smelling and tasting food actually kills your appetite. Gives you all the satiety without the calories of a full serving of what you are making. The smell is a big part.
That’s also a great dieting trick. Have a bite, continue your conversation or continue browsing on Reddit, have another bite 30 seconds to 1 minute later, keep doing that. You will get full without eating much.
I do that accidentally, probably ADHD, and am underweight. Last thing my doctor said to me was eat a cheeseburger.
But you can’t really taste calories, flavor and aroma can deliver satiety, and guess what cooks get a lot of blasted in their face.
That’s also and cocaine and cigarettes.
AdamColligan@reddit
I disagree that it's completely generic, even with pastry chefs, where it sounds awkward without context. In a real conversation, I expect it would be used to express that while other chefs put out better pastries, the speaker thinks that is only because those chefs have more and higher-quality facilities and staff, more time and leeway for planning, risk-taking, and iteration, etc. It may be amorphous. But that's also true of other modifiers in its family that carry similar notions into diverse situations where they would have to be explained further if precision is demanded: "pure", "all else being equal", "fundamentally", "in a vacuum"....
It's also used in a joking way when someone is physically small and elite in a field where physical size is irrelevant.
Fantastic-String-285@reddit
Yeah, that’s fair. I didn’t phrase that part of my comment perfectly. I more meant that in 90% of usages you can remove it from the sentence without fundamentally changing the meaning. It adds some nuance, sure, but there’s often not a lot of difference between “X is the best Y” and “pound for pound, X is the best Y.”
You’re definitely right about the joking usages though. I’ve heard Lionel Messi jokingly referred to as the best soccer player, pound for pound, which is doubly funny because he’s the best, period, while also being relatively diminutive for an elite athlete.
Unicoronary@reddit
Originally it was referencing fighters of the same class. They have the same weight (same pounds).
So, pound-for-pound, one is superior by virtue of skill/ability/whatever.
Like saying pound for pound Popeyes spicy chicken sandwich is superior - is saying that among all similar spicy chicken sandwiches, Popeyes is superior.
Means the same thing though - “assuming all is equal, this thing is peak.”
-Boston-Terrier-@reddit
You have this backwards. It’s about comparing fighters in different weight classes.
TSells31@reddit
This is incorrect. It has always been about comparing fighters from different weight classes.
BlaggartDiggletyDonk@reddit
Right. It's like how we're much bigger than the UK, but since they are pretty much our equal when it comes to global popular music, they come out ahead on a pound-for-pound basis. Their military is also top notch, but much smaller, so it compares favorably on a pound-for-pound basis.
Miserable_Smoke@reddit
During his time, Roy Jones was considered the greatest fighter pound for pound. He crossed weight classes, but it didnt matter who you put him up against, if we could magically get his body to weight, he would have dominated any class you put him in.
Old_Goat_Ninja@reddit
No. If they were the same weight there would be no need for the phrase to begin with.
Snak-Attack@reddit
The sandwich example is a good one, because you can use pound for pound to emphasize price or value.
You may not think the Popeyes chicken sandwich may not be as good as the Shake Shack Chicken Shack, but could think it's better pound for pound (because it's $5.99 vs. $8.49).
gh0st-Account5858@reddit
Wrong. It was always meant to compare fighters from different weight classes.
patiofurnature@reddit
It’s not an intensifier; it weakens it.
If some pastry chef in a small pastry shop is the best pound for pound pastry chef in the city, it doesn’t mean they’re actually the best. There may be a super famous pastry chef making desserts in an exclusive restaurant that does better, but the gap in skill is closer than you’d expect.
SnotboogyFlats@reddit
What if you were comparing pound cakes from pastry chefs?
philla1@reddit
All things equal? That’s how I always thought of it
oneeyedziggy@reddit
It means "proportionately" (generally by weight or sometimes size) ... So, someone being "pound for pound" as strong as someone else doesn't mean literally as strong. If they weigh 80% as much they only need to be about 80% as strong to be "pound for pound" as strong
Sharp-Ad4389@reddit
People already said the answer, I'm just here to point out that Alaska doesn't have mosquitoes.
Argo505@reddit
It’s weird you lie like this.
rebelipar@reddit
Lol, what? Alaska definitely has mosquitoes.
Practical-Ordinary-6@reddit
Some people are under the mistaken impression that mosquitoes are tropical insects because they transmit malaria in the tropics. One part of that is true and one part is not true. Mosquitoes are not simply tropical insects. And the main reason they transmit malaria in tropical countries is because temperate countries have made a great effort to stamp out malaria. It used to be common in many of those countries, too, so it's not true that malaria is a tropical disease, per sé.
The farthest north ever known reported case of malaria was in Archangelsk, Russia at 64° north latitude, a few degrees south of the Arctic Circle.
sforsma311@reddit
Why is this not more widely known?!
Argo505@reddit
Why is what not more widely known?
IHaveBoxerDogs@reddit
Because it’s not true. Don’t believe every comment you read on Reddit.
Argo505@reddit
Why are you telling me this?
IHaveBoxerDogs@reddit
I replied to the wrong person and deleted it as soon as I realized.
IHaveBoxerDogs@reddit
Because it’s not true. Don’t believe every comment you read on Reddit.
IHaveBoxerDogs@reddit
What in the world? This is wildly incorrect.
Argo505@reddit
It’s genuinely disturbing to me that you’re a teacher who is this confidently wrong.
skinnyorangecat@reddit
Mosquito is the Alaska state bird 😜
ALoungerAtTheClubs@reddit
Alaska has 35 species of mosquito.
https://www.alaska.org/advice/mosquitoes-in-alaska
donuttrackme@reddit
And you'd be incorrect. They're even bigger up there.
GhostRideATank@reddit
Alaska 100% has mosquitoes
shandelion@reddit
Wtf do they have because something ate me alive two summers ago.
soulmatesmate@reddit
Pound for pound, Ants are stronger than people, faster too.
In the history of explosives, dynamite has caused more destruction than Uranium, but... Pound for pound, you get more bang with U-235 than dynamite... it isn't close.
YOUTUBEFREEKYOYO@reddit
I don't typically hear it all that often, and when I do it's old timers like my grandfather, who himself was a boxer.
Hunts5555@reddit
When you measure her against others using the the same measure.
No-Stop-3362@reddit
It means that all other things in the situation being equal, XYZ is true.
darkside569@reddit
Broh, what? I thought that was a British thing.
ngshafer@reddit
lol. It doesn’t come from pounds sterling.
Suppafly@reddit
Sure, but a lot of common English language idioms come from the British since they've been speaking English longer than we have. The British used pounds for weight until the 1960s. The pounds in "pound sterling" used to refer to weight.
Practical-Ordinary-6@reddit
They actually haven't been speaking English longer than we have. Our ancestors go back to the same ancestors that the English ancestors do. You go back far enough and we're all the same and we all started from that same point. Just as many years have passed from that point to us as to them. One brother stayed, one brother migrated. They both had the same father and trace their use of English through him all the way to the beginning of English. My first ancestor came here in 1630 speaking English. His father never came here but his father goes all the way back to the beginning of English through his family, so mine does to. There was no time that we switched from some other language to English in the United States. We have the exact same path of English as people in England.
Unusual_Memory3133@reddit
In equal measure
boredcamp@reddit
Blow for blow
VinceP312@reddit
"All things being equal"
" When X is relative to Y, then X is just as good as Y" even if no Y is stated as a direct comparison.
KaBar42@reddit
Let me see if I can clarify it with an example.
During WWII, in order for the Japanese to achieve acceptable armor strength with their quality of steel, they had to make the armor on the Yamato 18 inches thick, whereas the US could achieve similar, if not superior, results with 16 inch thick armor on the Iowas.
Pound for pound, American steel was superior to Japanese steel.
burner12077@reddit
Its a term from fighting.
You could say a smaller fighter is "pound for pound" the best fighter there is, meaning that said small fighter may well realistically lose a fight with a heavier fighter, but if said heavier fighter was shrunk to the same size the first mentioned fighter would win, they do more with what they have.
You can apply it would anything Somewhere there may be a small car that "pound for pound" can tow the most weight, it doesn't mean it tows a lot really, it just means it tows a lot for its weight
Its a general rule that Asian men are "pound for pound" the strongest men, but since Asian men are also a little smaller, they generally arent nearly as strong overall, but in a room full of 140lb 5' 4" men generally the strongest in the room will be Asian. Asians are pound for pound the strongest people.
K_N0RRIS@reddit
"if thing X were the same size as thing Y, then X would be just as good as or better than Y"
MadeMeMeh@reddit
The phrase for physical competition with weight classes. It was used to say that when you adjust for size this fighter is better than that fighter.
In cooking it doesn't make sense unless there is something that makes the 2 competitors very different in the nature of the competition.
Delli-paper@reddit
"For their category"
Shes the best baker, pound for pound, because she's a great home baker but still not a professional. Alaskan mosquitos are the worst pound for pound because while its not the same as getting mauled by a bear, its worse than getting bit by an espresso-sipping Italian mosquito.
zgillet@reddit
I don't see anyone mentioning basketball, where this is used frequently due to height being an enormous advantage in the sport. Many say that Allen Iverson was the greatest scorer of all time pound for pound, since he was barely 6 feet tall in shoes.
Kineth@reddit
It's an idiom that is derived from boxing, as has been described in the other comments.
nickzillo@reddit
It’s a reference to a strength to weight ratio. A smaller person may have a higher strength to weight ratio, and therefore be stronger pound for pound than someone much bigger than them (although that is not a good way to measure strength). I wouldn’t really apply that to a baker, and it almost makes sense for your mosquito example.
UCFknight2016@reddit
I thought it was the British version of dollar for dollar
sto_brohammed@reddit
It's proportional. Cats, for example, have a lot more fight in them, pound for pound, than humans or dogs. How would you rank these in terms of things you'd feel comfortable you'd win a fight with?
A 50 pound dog
A 50 pound cat
A 50 pound human
wrosecrans@reddit
Proportionally.
A mosquito isn't as brutal as a wolf in absolute terms. But if you scaled them to be the same weight, a mosquito will bite you and suck your blood so pound for pound a mosquito is proportionally more brutal than a wolf.
MechanicalGodzilla@reddit
Mosquito's also are directly responsible for more human deaths than any other animal due to being the biological equivalent of flying dirty syringes. Fleas come in second.
MechanicalGodzilla@reddit
It's a way to pat li'l guys on the head and tell them they're doing their best. Floyd Mayweather is "pound for pound" one of the best boxers in history, but would get tuned up by any random unknown IFBB heavyweight. Weight classes exist to protect smaller athletes and allow for a broad range of competition classes.
In HS, I wrestled 215 and was OK-ish. We had a 4 time state champion who wrestled at 164, and the few times we rolled I would just crush him. Weight is an extremely important factor in combat sports, as it correlates very highly with bone size and strength.
Steerider@reddit
Let's take some good quality about you and slap a number on it. Your charisma is 110. Now we divide by how much you weigh.
We also do this with another person. If his number (charisma/weight) is higher than yours, then pound for pound he's more charismatic than you.
Not (usually) a literal phrase, but metaphorical emphasis.
ngshafer@reddit
It means “the best relative to their/its size.” Kind of a weird thing to say about a pastry chef, since being larger doesn’t usually make you a better chef.
spaltavian@reddit
Because the idiom is no longer strictly referring to weight and size. Expressions start out literal then become less so over time as they get used metaphorically.
Hungry-Wrongdoer-156@reddit
It basically means "based on weight" or "on a per-pound basis."
So you wouldn't say it about who's the best bakery chef unless there were some reason to think that one being larger/heavier would make them perform better in that regard.
I don't know if it's a direct boxing reference, but it's often made in boxing or similar situations where one's size might provide an advantage if the two were to compete directly, but doesn't necessarily mean that the larger person is more skilled or capable.
spaltavian@reddit
No, you are being overly literal, it's a very common idiom that is used when actual weight has nothing to do with the topic at hand.
It's essentially used when someone is claiming that one thing is qualitatively better but another thing would beat it due to some sort of absolute, raw metric.
An army could be better skilled or equipped but vastly outnumbered. A method of doing something could be more accurate but not scalable.
MyrmecolionTeeth@reddit
It's been popularized enough that it wouldn't be strange to hear it used metaphorically to mean "she might not be as commercially successful as Buddy Valastro, but her cakes are out of this world."
J_Dabson002@reddit
Think of it like “per capita”
royalhawk345@reddit
What confused you about the definition when you looked it up?
PerfectlyCalmDude@reddit
I've only heard that in reference to sports where there are weight classes.
ass-to-trout12@reddit
It means all other things being equal. For example its most often used in fight sports. Demetrius Johnson was the flyweight champion and called the best fighter pound for pound. Meaning if he was magically 240lbs he would beat the heavyweight champion with his skillset
MeanderFlanders@reddit
Kinda like “all things being equal, …”
VentusHermetis@reddit
do you ever compare prices by weight?
ljd09@reddit
It means that all things being equal - that one is superior to the other.
RingGiver@reddit
Being the bigger man in a fight is a huge advantage, so if a heavyweight professional boxer fought a lightweight professional boxer, the bigger guy would probably win because he's stronger, hits harder, takes hits better, and probably has a longer reach. This is why weight classes exist: to pair up fighters with people of similar size to be fair.
However, the bigger guy winning against the smaller guy isn't necessarily going to be a better boxer. Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather can both be argued to possibly be the best boxer of the past 40 years, but Tyson generally weighed around 220lbs and Mayweather was never over around 150, so Tyson would almost definitely overpower Mayweather if you put 23-year-old heavyweight Tyson in a ring with 23-year-old super-featherweight under-130lbs Mayweather. You can reasonably argue either to be a better boxer than the other guy. If you're going to say that in all factors other than size (and strength), Mayweather is a better boxer, that's what pound-for-pound is about.
VirtualDingus7069@reddit
It means “if things were equal or fair”. In boxing and wrestling, it meant if he had the extra weight on him to match another fighter’s weight then he would win out.
“If he was 20lbs heavier to qualify for heavyweight he’d be best in class there, but he’s not so pound for pound I believe he’s the best skilled fighter/wrestler in the division”
Your baker girls full statement might really be like this:
“Pound for pound, she’s the best baker in America but she just doesn’t have the resources of the big chains, thus her skills are struggling to find their place in a successful area of her local bakery market. Her shop may fold, forcing her to join a bigger outfit - just to be in a kitchen that is setup to her skill level”
Ok_Dog_4059@reddit
A guy in high-school squated more weight than I did and holds the school record but he weighed far more than me so I hold the lb for lb record. He was almost 200 lbs and squated like 425 which is clearly more than my 325 but I weighed 80 lbs.
Carlpanzram1916@reddit
It is indeed a sports reference used in combat sports and also power lifting. If someone is smaller but can lift a lot relative to their own body weight, you would say they are better pound for pound. The reference then started to carry over to sports like boxing where fighters are ranked not just in their weight class but on a very subjective pound-for-pound list.
The term is references casually in other scenarios but explaining it would be very situational. Saying a bakery is the best might reference that it’s good despite being smaller or having less resources. Not sure about the mosquitos.
The_Motherlord@reddit
All things being equal.
VaeVictis_Game@reddit
This is a term I'd use when I was powerlifting. It was basically a way of saying that despite someone being lighter they could lift more weight in proportion to their body weight compared to people bigger than they were. "Pound for pound I lift heavier than you do." At the time I was 135 and could bench 185 where some guys who were about 200 could only bench 205 so pound for pound I was stronger than they were.
Syndromia@reddit
It references boxing and other contact sports where players are split into weight classes. It is the equivalent to, "all else being equal".
r2k398@reddit
In boxing and mma, you have different weight classes. The best pound for pound fighter is the best overall despite the weight class they are in.
But in the context your examples are using them in, it means “bar none” or they don’t have an equal.
mellymellcaramel@reddit
And bar none means?
Iam4ever@reddit
"Without exception" to compare something to everything of that something without exception. Barring none
"This is the best cake I have ever had, Bar none"
Bar = Barring = except, besides, but
DontForgt2BringATowl@reddit
See also, “hands down”
MaccyBoiLaren@reddit
It means you're not barring anyone from the comparison, meaning if you're including every person who does x, that person is the best.
r2k398@reddit
Without exception
mellymellcaramel@reddit
Thank you. Take my upvotes
KingJulian1500@reddit
I thought the saying was “in for a penny, in for a pound” and it kinda means, “I don’t half ass ever, only full ass everything”
nagurski03@reddit
It's a boxing reference that became a saying. An 150 pound fighter is completely outclassed by a 250 pound fighter, so you can't directly compare them.
But let's say you've got a Steve who completely dominates his 150lbs weight class, compared to Frank who just barely won the 250lbs weight class. Pound for pound, the lighter guy is better.
Basically, saying "pound for pound, Steve is better than Frank" means "If Steve and Frank both weighed the same amount of pounds, Steve would be better".
quasiix@reddit
It comes from fighting sports like boxing where weight classes are used. When someone says "that boxer is the best, pound for pound" they mean that the boxer is highest ranked within their weight class.
Over time the phrase has been expanded to refer to any comparable subjects, but with some vagueness about what the subset is.
"Pound for pound, Alaskan mosquitos are the worst" could mean that they are the worst of all mosquitos in all locations or they are the worst of the insects in Alaska. Context clues are needed to determine the "weight class" being compared so to speak
witchitieto@reddit
On a standardized scale
GreenTravelBadger@reddit
Never heard the phrase, but I thought of English currency.
BigNorseWolf@reddit
It applies to boxing but also other things.
A 350 lb fighter can be ok and be extremely lethal. But a 120 pound twig has to be GOOD to KO people. So best pound for pound means the most skill if you had even upped the weight advantage.
Another example might be a mantis shrimp having the biggest punch in the animal kingdom pound for pound. Imagine if your punch could make godzillia go OW!! WTF.
A more metaphorical example might be fentanyl giving you the biggest high pound for pound. It might not be the best trip but a little dab will do ya.
jonoro1@reddit
Yeah, pretty sure it comes from boxing. With boxing, it's used to compare fighters of different weight classes. Boxers might not be able to win simply because of the weight class difference, but if they were the same weight - pound-for-pound - but still had their respective skill/talent, who would come out on top? In a more figurative sense, you're just comparing underlying skills or quality by making all other aspects equal.
Straight_Cherry996@reddit
Old british saying - idiom today: pound for pound - examples:
When considered side-by side at an equal weight pound for pound you get much more also work done by one and comparing to the other unit to unit
In combat sports, especially boxing, adjusted according to differing weight classes.Pound for pound, Lewis is the superior boxer any day of the week.
[Usually of value, quality, strength, etc.] considering the amount of weight involved. Pound for pound, a dog fed properly is much stronger than a dog that has to fend for itself. Pound for pound, there is more food value in beef than in chicken.
Civil_Papaya7321@reddit
Yes, it's a boxing reference comparing fighters skill as if the were in the same weight class.
LeonidasVader@reddit
You pretty much nailed it.
Since boxing is divided into weight classes, you have many champions simultaneously. Of course, this also means there have been many, many champions over the years.
When debating who is the “greatest boxer,” it doesn’t make much sense to say that a lighter fighter would be knocked out by a heavier one, so he’s not in the running. It’s taken as a given that bigger guys could beat smaller ones; what the debate is trying to settle is which one was best *regardless of size/weight.”
So, pound for pound, i.e., disregarding weight or assuming that the fighters were of an equal weight, which was better?
Younger people may associate this phrase more with mixed martial arts, since it’s more popular these days.
Often it’s just kind of added in to frame the debate in the same way that sports debates are often framed, but it’s also fair to say that it could be considered to mean “if everyone were on equal footing” or “if everyone had the same opportunities.” Pound for pound, who’s the greatest chef of the modern day might mean given the same kitchen, same equipment, same ingredients and completely neutral judges who could equally appreciate each chef’s signature dish, who would win?
CFBCoachGuy@reddit
I think it’s originally British.
Pound for pound was used in boxing to compare fighters of different weight classes. Since a heavier fighter would beat a lighter fighter in a match, “pound for pound” was used to hypothetically compare all fighters on equal footing. It’s since expanded into other combat sports.
It’s since been used to compare things that may not be compared like-for-like easily, often to give one thing strength over the other.
MyrmecolionTeeth@reddit
It's a boxing thing, a way to subjectively claim that while a fighter may be in a lighter weight class, they're just as talented in the ring as the (typically more popular) heavyweights. It was often applied to Sugar Ray Robinson.
In your examples, it indicated something like "she may not own a chain of bakeries, but she's incredibly skilled" or "Alaskan mosquitoes might not be as plentiful as Florida mosquitoes, but they're the nastiest."
Flippa20@reddit
Skill divided by weight
Livid_Number_@reddit
It is a boxing reference and used to compare boxers across weight classes. Where skill and talent are used for rating regardless of the boxer’s size and weight class.
montanagrizfan@reddit
It’s from boxing as a way to rate boxers skills across different weight classes.
GlitteringLocality@reddit
Once used in boxing to compare fighters of different weight classes, it now applies to various sports and contexts to measure greatness by talent instead of physical advantages.
slifm@reddit
It’s means 1000 lbs of mosquitos vs 1000 pounds of bed bugs, mosquitos are the worst. And equal amount of pounds of this thing is better/worse than this other thing everytime.
MVHood@reddit
It means, “all things being equal” I think