# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/121 "2013-06-28T00:04:25Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Thuringwethel** : > > No one has mentioned sizes of champagne bottles - ranging from the Piccolo to the Melchizedek with stops at Jennie, Jeroboam, Rehoboam, Methuselah, Mordechai, Salmanazar and Balthazar. What, no Caspar? ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/122 "2013-06-28T02:41:32Z")
My favorite (introduced to me here, I think) is the **blue jay emetic unit** , used to measure the quantity of cardenolides in plants, extracts, and butterflies. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/123 "2013-06-28T05:01:04Z")
> [@Neverending\_Elbow](#): > > The [barleycorn](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_units#Length) is one I just like the sound of. If you Brits and Americans ever wondered what unit shoe sizes are measured in. I like some of the others listed there: Bovate, the amount of land one ox can plough in a single year (also called an oxgate). Approximately 15 acres or one eighth of a carucate. Virgate. the amount of land a pair of oxen can plough in a single year. Approximately 30 acres (also called yard land). Carucate. an area equal to that which can be ploughed by one eight-oxen team in a single year (also called a plough or carve). Approximately 120 acres. ---
**Author:** ![Gorbag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ec9cab/32.png) [@Gorbag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorbag)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/124 "2013-06-28T10:36:19Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > [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. My only problem with this definition is the term ‘jiffy’ has been around since the 1600s, which is before there were fermis or anyone though light wasn’t instantaneous. My contribution to units: the hoover - the unit of suck. “The boss said I have to come in on Saturday” “Oh dude! That’s gotta be three hoovers!” ---
**Author:** ![Klytus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Klytus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Klytus)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/125 "2013-06-28T12:27:23Z")
I’ve always been fond of a unit of measure I first saw in the comic strip Schlock Mercenary - the Hurtz Scale, which defines how painful certain things are. A different webcomic introduced me to the concept of the “Imperial Assload” - which very frequently describes the amount of work on my desk in a given day… ---
**Author:** ![Cryptic\_C62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cryptic\_C62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cryptic_C62)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/126 "2013-06-28T13:07:03Z")
I’m slightly astonished that this hasn’t been posted yet: [Giraffe](http://what-if.xkcd.com/44/). ---
**Author:** ![Tierce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@Tierce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tierce)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2013, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/127 "2013-06-30T02:10:57Z")
> [@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. Google says that 1 newton is approximately 1.145 stone-furlongs per fortnight squared. ---
**Author:** ![Tierce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@Tierce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tierce)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2013, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/128 "2013-06-30T03:07:02Z")
Make that 1.145x10^9… ---
**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 30, 2013, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/129 "2013-06-30T03:34:36Z")
I think we need a name for a new unit of force that is equal to 1 stone-furlong per fortnight squared. How about “Sparrowfart”? ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2013, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/130 "2013-06-30T05:26:41Z")
[**Kellikam**](http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=154982): A Klingon unit of distance, roughly equal to two kilometres. ---
**Author:** ![Noel\_Prosequi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b19c9b/32.png) [@Noel\_Prosequi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noel_Prosequi)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2013, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/131 "2013-06-30T07:47:24Z")
Antipodean unit of the infinitesimally small - the Bee’s Dick. As in, “Holy Crap! That car just missed me by a Bee’s Dick.” Never seen in plural form. Coat of Varnish - the amount by which a cricket ball missed the stumps, according to disappointed bowlers. “Another coat of varnish and you’d be gone, mate!” Rarely convincing. Comparative size of CoV and BD unknown. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2013, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/132 "2013-06-30T15:29:21Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > I think we need a name for a new unit of force that is equal to 1 stone-furlong per fortnight squared. How about “Sparrowfart”? [Dutch metric stone](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_(weight)#Metric_stone), right? ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2013, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/133 "2013-07-01T17:33:50Z")
The [Pyramid inch](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_inch), “[a God-given measure handed down through the centuries from the time of Shem (Noah’s Son)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Piazzi_Smyth#Pyramidological_researches)”, discovered in the 19th century. It allowed all sorts of remarkable facts and accurate prophecies (of events prior to the 19th century) to be encoded into the dimensions of the Egyptian pyramids (given sufficient fudging). ---
**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:** [July 3, 2013, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/134 "2013-07-03T18:47:10Z")
Video: [Mental Floss: 36 Unusual Units of Measurement](http://youtu.be/Q8qQolqkTU0) ---
**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:** [July 4, 2013, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/135 "2013-07-04T02:28:21Z")
I submit the most useful unusual unit is the “finnagle”, which is the quantity you add, subtract… well, hell, it’s the amount you _somehow adjust_ the quantity you have or measure to make it the quantity you’ve calculated or you’re budgeted for. It goes with drawing the curve first and then adding data points to support and make it a “best fit” curve. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2013, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/136 "2013-07-04T12:06:09Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > The smoot is a unit of length created by a bunch of **(probably drunk)** MIT students in 1958. (emphasis added) Apparently not so: > [@](#): > > “Stone cold sober,” said Claron Anderson, one of the pledges, rebutting speculation that the fraternity brothers were drunk at the time. Anderson is now 66 and living in California. > > “This was a weeknight,” said Miller, now 65 and living in Lexington, Mass. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/07/AR2005120702328\_pf.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/07/AR2005120702328_pf.html) ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2013, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/137 "2013-07-04T12:59:47Z")
> [@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). Not to pick a nit (hah!) but isn’t the unit “light-feet” dimensionally inconsistent with time? I assume you mean it to be the speed of light multiplied by a foot, which in dimensional terms is (L / T) \* L = L^2 / T. Surely what you want is the feet-per-light, which would give you L / (L / T) = T. Also, great username and unit combination! ---
**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:** [July 4, 2013, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/138 "2013-07-04T13:59:05Z")
> [@Dervorin](#): > > Not to pick a nit (hah!) but isn’t the unit “light-feet” dimensionally inconsistent with time? I assume you mean it to be the speed of light multiplied by a foot, which in dimensional terms is (L / T) \* L = L^2 / T. > > Surely what you want is the feet-per-light, which would give you L / (L / T) = T. > > Also, great username and unit combination! I’m not sure that in the colloquial names light-nanosecond and light-foot there’s any specific dimensional analysis implied by the form of the names themselves. A light-nanosecond is the distance travelled by light in a nanosecond, and a light-foot\* is the time required for light to travel a foot, right? [sub]\*Also a Canadian folk singer.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/139 "2013-07-04T15:47:07Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I’m not sure that in the colloquial names light-nanosecond and light-foot there’s any specific dimensional analysis implied by the form of the names themselves. A light-nanosecond is the distance travelled by light in a nanosecond, and a light-foot\* is the time required for light to travel a foot, right? > [sub]\*Also a Canadian folk singer.[/sub] But that’s… that’s inaccurate! Or worse, inconsistent! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2013, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542/140 "2013-07-04T16:06:25Z")
So we should rename the Light-Foot to Gordon! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-units-of-measurement/661542.md?page=8)