# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2013, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/81 "2013-06-24T19:45:04Z")
[Measurements](http://brunching.com/measurements.html) ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2013, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/82 "2013-06-24T21:29:50Z")
> [@hotflungwok](#): > > The bogon: a measure bogosity, or how bogus something is. That sounds BOOOoooOOOoooGUS! ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2013, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/83 "2013-06-24T21:55:24Z")
Two fun ones I don’t see mentioned: The [Scoville Scale](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoville_scale), used to measure the hotness of cili peppers (Scoville Heat Units) The Garn Scale, used by NASA to determine your likelihood of getting sick in weightlessness, named after Senator [Jake Garn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jake_Garn#Spaceflight), who got sicker than anyone had ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/84 "2013-06-25T10:22:34Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > My favorite rural Georgia farmer unit. > A “look”. > > Look as far as you can see down the road. Maybe it’s a distant hill. Maybe a large curve. A bridge…Keep that specific point in mind. When you get there you’ve gone one “look”. Now look and see where the point is that defines the next “look” distance. Repeat as needed.. This is amazing! I doff my cap to the man! That Georgian farmer was smart, and in the very best way: Maybe he didn’t get much formal schooling , but he had the right combination of common sense and intelligence to invent a whole new concept, and use it effectively. I respect a guy like that. And I’m going to make use of his new unit of measurement. I assume that it works best in the countryside, but even in the city, it’s a good idea.(Hey, my house is around the curve…2 looks after the traffic light.) ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/85 "2013-06-25T11:33:07Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > My favorite rural Georgia farmer unit. Quite variable in actual units but on the other hand rather precise and useful if implemented properly. > > A “look”…A “look” is when you get on a road. Look down it as far as you can seen down the road. Maybe its a distance hill. Maybe a large curve. A bridge. A tunnel. Just a long assed way down the road. Keep that specific point in mind. When you get there you’ve gone one “look”. Now look and see where the point is that defines the next “look” distance. Repeat as needed. > > I got specific and complicated directions using “looks” once. Our team kept track of “looks” as we wandered rural Georgia. We go to where we were going and we were all "well, whata you know. It fucking works… This is fantastic. I, too, am surprised it’s not used widely and often. The nautical equivalent would be a “reach” – how far down a river you can see before it curves. That IS used by sailors and boatsmen – sometimes they’re even shown on charts as dotted lines, occasionally with names. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/86 "2013-06-25T17:42:55Z")
The dog, for heat-needed to keep you warm. As in three-dog night. I was amazed to find that out after all these years of mama telling me not to come. People in the US do use this expression, I was told. But I doubt anyone uses a “unit” of dog other than that. No more than “cats and dogs” is a unit of rainfall. Wiki does has a [List of unusual units of measurement](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unusual_units_of_measurement), and a [List of humorous units of measurement](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_humorous_units_of_measurement) The “unusual” ones are fascinating in that they give an insight to the practical thinking of what to most people are abstruse or bizarre endeavors (choose your adjective). The whimsical ones of course use wonderful puns and cultural references. But surely there are others not in English? Or maybe this thread is where such a list begins… ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/87 "2013-06-25T18:41:07Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > The dog, for heat-needed to keep you warm. As in three-dog night. I was amazed to find that out after all these years of mama telling me not to come. I believe that standard only applies to short people. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/88 "2013-06-25T18:47:54Z")
Not if you have Newfies. I’m too tired at the moment to calculate a Newfie. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/89 "2013-06-25T19:10:18Z")
Unless I was just whooshed. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/90 "2013-06-25T19:12:41Z")
Another one has come to mind, from the same chapter of **If At All Possible, Involve A Cow** as the Smoot: the “Bruno”. Not as useful as the Smoot-marks, one Bruno is defined as, “a unit of volume equal to the size of the dent in asphalt resulting from the free fall of an upright piano. Determined to be 1158 cubic centimeters when the experiment was first performed in 1972.” [Recent article](http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2012/04/25/40_years_after_quirky_ritual_began_the_piano_drop_still_strikes_a_chord_at_mit/). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/91 "2013-06-25T19:50:09Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Not if you have Newfies. I’m too tired at the moment to calculate a Newfie. If it was a Newfie joke, I’d have mentioned Black Horse beer. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/92 "2013-06-25T20:07:14Z")
No mention to date of the “[chain](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chain_%28unit%29)”, which is 66 feet. I learned about it first in the novel _The Man with the Golden Gun_. Also the “perch”, which is not standardized enough to be cool. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/93 "2013-06-25T20:20:01Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I should have thought of this before, but Rhode Island is commonly used as a comparative measure of the size of large sections of ice that break off from the polar ice sheets, as well as for measuring wildfires and other areas of concern. The UK uses “Wales” and “The Isle of Wight” similarly. I wonder if that’s a fairly universal thing? What do other countries use? ---
**Author:** ![Stana\_Claus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stana_claus/32/13874_2.png) [@Stana\_Claus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stana_Claus)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/94 "2013-06-25T20:40:54Z")
One of my all-time favorites - the Ohnosecond. Defined as the time elapsed between hitting the send (or delete) key and realizing that you REALLY didn’t mean to do that! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/95 "2013-06-25T21:23:20Z")
> [@Stana\_Claus](#): > > One of my all-time favorites - the Ohnosecond. Defined as the time elapsed between hitting the send (or delete) key and realizing that you REALLY didn’t mean to do that! A time that Google, in its infinite wisdom, extended to 10 seconds–the amount of time before GMail actually sends a message, and thus the amount of time an “undo” option is displayed. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/96 "2013-06-25T21:27:00Z")
A “Texas” should be defined as: “a thing that thinks it’s bigger than it really is.” …Oh, it is mentioned under the “unusual measurements” page, but not in the same manner. As in: “Texas is the biggest state, and 37% the size of an Alaska.” Or: “Texas is bigger than than France… with 40% the population.” ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/97 "2013-06-25T21:40:13Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > No mention to date of the “[chain](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chain_%28unit%29)”, which is 66 feet. [Ahem](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16401006&postcount=3). The acre’s kinda cool all by itself. An acre’s long side is one furlong - the best compromise distance to drive an ox- or horse-drawn plough so as not to waste unnecessary time turning it but to allow reasonable rest breaks so as not to tire the beasts excessively. Plough a chain’s width of these furrows, and you’ve done a good day’s work for the ploughman and his team, so you knock off until the morrow. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/98 "2013-06-25T22:47:27Z")
Farscape Microt; a second, or minute, depending on the intent of the speaker Arn; hour Cycle; year Dalek Rell; one second Hitchhiker’s Guide Bad news; obeys it’s own physical laws R34 a velocity, clearly too fast Altarian Dollar Triganic Ningi Triganic Pu Flanian Pobble Bead ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/99 "2013-06-25T23:22:38Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > When I first learned that light travels about a foot (~11.78 inches) in a nanosecond (I spend my days staring at nanoseconds on oscilloscopes) I’ve used **light-nanoseconds** interchangeably with feet and **light-feet** interchangeably with nanoseconds. And of course, [wiki has an entry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unusual_units_of_measurement#Light-nanosecond). I learned that from Grace Hopper. Somewhere around here I have a ‘nanosecond’ (11.78 inches of phone wire) that she gave me at one of her talks. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/100 "2013-06-26T01:17:57Z")
> [@snowmaster](#): > > A metric fuckton, which is a none-too-precisely defined unit of a ridiculously large quantity of something or other. To my dad that would be a Skillion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542.md?page=6)