Just offer the ounces or the decimal. Pounds are stupid. I’m college educated and perfectly smart but I would have to do a little work in my head to translate 1/3 of a pound and if you caught me off guard, I’d probably make a dumb face for a few seconds. You have to do 16/3, which takes a moment. And then probably remember that the scale is using decimals any way?

OP here- thx!
My kids thought I was crazy, but after tossing uneaten $$ smoked salmon for the last time, they’ll need to help me out and just eat the extra. Or, I’ll be like someone’s dad and order x slices - love it!

For deli meat, be like my dad and order, 4 slices of ham and 4 slices of cheese.

I do it with fish for my DH. I say a quarter of a pound because they usually end up giving me a third of a pound. That's all he wants and me and our son are vegetarian.

Some people get annoyed, but oh well.

Point three three pounds

Just ask in ounces.

I often order 1/3, but haven't had trouble getting it. Maybe also say "point three". I didn't think it was a strange amount. If the only choices were in increments of 1/4 then they should have a sign.

and actually, if you think about it, 1/4 pound and 1/2 pounds ARE the real odd ball measurements.

1/3 lbs is very close to 150 grams, 1/4 pound is 113 grams while 1/2 pound is 226 grams. 1/3 actually makes more sense.

Who cares? Ask for it. It makes sense. 1/2 pound too much many time, 1/4 not enough. 1/3 is perfect.

I say "a third of a point, so point three three on the scale" to take out any guess work.

They're used to people ordering in quarters.

Yes if it's a digital scale (like at the grocery deli) I'd just say "0.3 pounds please" and see if that helps. Otherwise try "a bit more than a 1/4 pound".

Just get half a pound. If you have kids, I’m sure you can find a way to use that extra 1/6 lb.

Oh, c'mon. It's not that hard. A customer should be able to get the quantity they want. OP, try saying point-three or point-four so the person at the counter doesn't have to convert from fractions to decimals.

Well frankly that’s an odd measurement of a food on a regular basis. They’re probably not confused, they’re annoyed.

It’s easier for people to factor in the quarters. So if you tell them a quarter pound or 3/4 pounds it’s easier than To think .33 or .666. Sometimes also machines have settings 1/3 it’s not a common setting.

Multiple times, at different places, I’ve ordered 1/3 of a pound of something and person behind counter seems confused by request-
I’m not expecting exact measurement, but getting close to a pound, like 0.83, 0.9 is just crazy. I’m trying to only get what I’ll need for a recipe or to minimize waste. Am I ordering using wrong terminology? Don’t want to embarrass anyone or speak to manager or anything. Maybe I just order half a pound and deal with a little extra. And teach my kids about weights and measures.