# Am I the only one reading "nm" as "near miss"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 22, 2011, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-reading-nm-as-near-miss/579379 "2011-04-22T17:25:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/47e85d/32.png) [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3_20_59_or_bust)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-reading-nm-as-near-miss/579379/1 "2011-04-22T17:25:44Z")
Instead of “never mind”? I don’t know why exactly, but every single time I see the “nm” edit in a post, my brain thinks “Near Miss!” Yes, with an exclamation point. I’m not sure when it started, but I can’t stop thinking it now. And frankly, it makes it a little more fun. Just wondering what the person had written that made the little Straight Dope Fairy come by and erase it while screaming “Near Miss!” Anyway, that’s how I spend my days… ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-reading-nm-as-near-miss/579379/2 "2011-04-22T17:41:53Z")
Also handy when playing “Battleship”. “Nautical Mile” or “Near Miss”! (And whoever had the idea of using “m” to abbreviate “mile” ought to be torpedoed and sunk…) ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-reading-nm-as-near-miss/579379/3 "2011-04-22T17:46:38Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > (And whoever had the idea of using “m” to abbreviate “mile” ought to be torpedoed and sunk…) Miles were abbreviated as “m” before meters were invented. ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-reading-nm-as-near-miss/579379/4 "2011-04-22T19:01:57Z")
> [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](#): > > Instead of “never mind”? > > I don’t know why exactly, but every single time I see the “nm” edit in a post, my brain thinks “Near Miss!” Yes, with an exclamation point. No, just you…up until now. Thanks a lot! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Hennessy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hennessy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hennessy)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-reading-nm-as-near-miss/579379/5 "2011-04-22T20:01:53Z")
Back when the slang started we were doing n/m instead of nm which I still use if I abbreviate it. It looks so much cleaner although it is 1 key harder to do… Life truly sucks ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-reading-nm-as-near-miss/579379/6 "2011-04-22T20:32:04Z")
Of course, nm also means nanometre… ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-reading-nm-as-near-miss/579379/7 "2011-04-22T21:15:08Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Of course, nm also means nanometre… I think I was reading sci.space.something, and was getting awfully confused by orbits in nautical miles, and I was reading it as nanometers. Boy those are LOW Earth orbits 😃 Brian ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-reading-nm-as-near-miss/579379/8 "2011-04-22T21:20:11Z")
The distance from the Earth to Litella is, roughly speaking, 296,567 neverminds.