# Coolest units of measurement **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 21, 2013, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542 "2013-06-21T06:35:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/1 "2013-06-21T06:35:35Z")
[Jiffy (physics).](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiffy_%28time%29#Physics) A jiffy, as defined by Edward R. Harrison, is the time it takes light to travel one fermi (one femtometer), which is about the size of a proton. [Smoot.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoot) The smoot is a unit of length created by a bunch of (probably drunk) MIT students in 1958. The unit is named after George Smoot, and was used to measure the lenght of the Harvard Bridge. One smoot is equal to George Smoot’s height at the time (five feet and seven inches). To measure the length of the bridge, Smoot repeatedly lay down on the bridge, allowed his fraternity brothers to mark his position, and got up again. The bridge was measured as “364.4 smoots plus or minus one ear”. The markings on the bridge are still there, as they are repainted each semester. Appropriately, George Smoot later served as Chairman of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and President of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Got any others? ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/2 "2013-06-21T07:23:31Z")
I like “furlongs per fortnight”. Mostly because of the alliteration. Other than that, it’s probably a useless unit of velocity unless maybe if you’re talking about the growth cycle of some sort of creeping vine or slug racing. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/3 "2013-06-21T07:26:40Z")
[Acre-foot](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acre-foot), a unit of volume which is cuboidal with all three dimensions different: one foot by one chain by one furlong. > [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > I like “furlongs per fortnight”. Mostly because of the alliteration. Other than that, it’s probably a useless unit of velocity unless maybe if you’re talking about the growth cycle of some sort of creeping vine or slug racing. I personally would be seriously alarmed by a creeping vine that was growing at a rate of one furlong per fortnight, which is 110 yards per week, or about two feet every hour - just about fast enough to be clearly visible. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/4 "2013-06-21T07:33:45Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > I personally would be seriously alarmed by a creeping vine that was growing at a rate of one furlong per fortnight, which is 110 yards per week, or about two feet every hour - just about fast enough to be clearly visible. I’ve hear tales about Kudzu. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/5 "2013-06-21T07:44:57Z")
[Inverse femtobarn](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barn_(unit)#Inverse_femtobarn) ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/6 "2013-06-21T07:48:30Z")
From my sister the pharmacist comes the **scruple** , “A unit of apothecary weight equal to about 1.3 grams, or 20 grains.” ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/7 "2013-06-21T07:52:34Z")
I like the fact that a moment (well alright, a medieval moment) is precisely 90 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/8 "2013-06-21T07:59:49Z")
The OP already beat me to the Smoot; I’ve seen the markings on the bridge many times. I would add that Oliver Smoot’s cousin George Smoot is a $1,000,000 quiz show winner, appeared on an episode of _The Big Bang Theory_, and won the Nobel Prize in Physics. And Google’s conversion engine is aware of the Smoot, and can convert to and from other units of distance. > [@Malacandra](#): > > I personally would be seriously alarmed by a creeping vine that was growing at a rate of one furlong per fortnight, which is 110 yards per week, or about two feet every hour - just about fast enough to be clearly visible. I’ve heard it said that the attoparsec per microfortnight is approximately equal to 1 inch per second. While googling to confirm that, I found [this page](http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WhimsicalUnitsOfMeasurement) of whimsical units of measurement. It explains that 1 furlong/fortnight = 10 Snail’s Pace, and that the speed of light is 18 terasnailpaces. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/9 "2013-06-21T08:10:43Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > From my sister the pharmacist comes the **scruple** , “A unit of apothecary weight equal to about 1.3 grams, or 20 grains.” That reminded me of the [dram](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dram_%28unit%29): > [@](#): > > The **dram** (alternative British spelling **drachm** ; [apothecary](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apothecary) symbol **ʒ** ; abbreviated **dr** )[[1]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dram_%28unit%29#cite_note-OEDdrachm-1)[[2]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dram_%28unit%29#cite_note-NIST-2):C-6–C-7[[3]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dram_%28unit%29#cite_note-Boyer2009-3) was originally both a [coin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coin) and a [weight](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weight) in [ancient Greece](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greece).[[4]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dram_%28unit%29#cite_note-OEDdram-4) It refers to a unit of [mass](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass) in the [avoirdupois](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avoirdupois) system, and both a unit of mass and a unit of volume in the [apothecaries’ system](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apothecaries%27_system).[[2]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dram_%28unit%29#cite_note-NIST-2) The unit of volume is more correctly called a **fluid dram** , **fluid drachm** , **fluidram** or **fluidrachm** (abbreviated **fl dr** , **ƒ 3** , or **fʒ** ) That is the origin of the term dramshop which in the US is a legal term meaning a bar or tavern since "[t]raditionally, it referred to a shop where spirits were sold by the [dram…"](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dram_%28unit%29) ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/10 "2013-06-21T08:14:53Z")
Another one that I’ve often found useful in daily life is the **millihelen** , which is the quantity of beauty needed to launch one ship. Also, the **sheppy** : “Measure of distance (equal to approximately seven eighths of a mile), defined as the closest distance at which sheep remain picturesque”, according to the [Meaning of Liff](http://folk.uio.no/alied/TMoL.html). ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/11 "2013-06-21T08:24:29Z")
I think I’m going to win the thread with this one. **poronkusema** - the distance a reindeer could travel without stopping to urinate. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/12 "2013-06-21T08:27:01Z")
This doesn’t qualify as a new unit, but back in college we used to measure time in ohm-farads (ΩF). ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/13 "2013-06-21T08:30:42Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > I personally would be seriously alarmed by a creeping vine that was growing at a rate of one furlong per fortnight, which is 110 yards per week, or about two feet every hour - just about fast enough to be clearly visible. Kelp grows that fast, or nearly so. Never realized there was a specialized unit of measurement for it. ---
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/14 "2013-06-21T09:28:28Z")
I love some of the old customary units of measure from Spain. The only “hiccup” with them is that they tended to have different values according to the region… 😛 Two of them, for some reason, are particularly close to my heart: ARROBA (whose abbreviation/symbol, btw, was “@”) – a unit of weight that was used specifically for livestock – most often for pigs. It ended up being defined as 25 Castilian Pounds (or, in metric units, roughly 11.5 kg), but originally it was 1/4 of a quintal, the quintal being defined as “the load that a donkey or a mule could carry” (the word comes from the Arabic “ar-rub”). ALMUD – a unit of volume for grain and other dry objects. Its value varied _wildly_ from one region to the next; in Castile it was roughly 4.625 liters (the word comes from the Arabic “al-mudd”). ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/15 "2013-06-21T09:33:47Z")
I like Cans. As in, the number of cans of beer you drink in a certain length drive. (old days, before DUI laws) ie, it’s only a 3 can drive. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/16 "2013-06-21T14:36:39Z")
> [@stui\_magpie](#): > > I like Cans. > > As in, the number of cans of beer you drink in a certain length drive. (old days, before DUI laws) ie, it’s only a 3 can drive. I first heard about that in “The Monkey Wrench Gang.” Was it more widespread than that? I used to use cigarettes as a time measurement. One smoke is about 7 and a half minutes. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/17 "2013-06-21T14:44:00Z")
Smithereen. The smallest particle that results from exploding an object. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/18 "2013-06-21T17:38:31Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > I like “furlongs per fortnight”. Mostly because of the alliteration. Other than that, it’s probably a useless unit of velocity unless maybe if you’re talking about the growth cycle of some sort of creeping vine or slug racing. This is exactly what I intended to post. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/19 "2013-06-21T17:53:10Z")
Single-digit kelvins. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/20 "2013-06-21T18:05:49Z")
firkin - a quarter of an ale/beer barrel. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542.md?page=2)