# Know any less-usual units of measure? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 6, 2001, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-any-less-usual-units-of-measure/71431 "2001-07-06T02:05:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![heembo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f6c823/32.png) [@heembo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heembo)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2001, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-any-less-usual-units-of-measure/71431/41 "2001-07-09T23:15:29Z")
She’s prettier than a cow. ---
**Author:** ![\_Uigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/e9a140/32.png) [@\_Uigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Uigi)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2001, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-any-less-usual-units-of-measure/71431/42 "2001-07-10T01:37:49Z")
“sKosh”? (as in: move an object just a skosh. I have no idea what the correct speeling of the word might be) “blond c\*\*\* hair”? (as in: (as above) but I do know the correct spelling of “charlie uniform november tango”) ---
**Author:** ![\_Uigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/e9a140/32.png) [@\_Uigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Uigi)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2001, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-any-less-usual-units-of-measure/71431/43 "2001-07-10T01:43:45Z")
(yes I know how to spell “spelling”; just these darned fingers aren’t wokin’ right. “ignisecond”: the length of time from when your hand leaves the surface of the car door (as you slam it closed) until you realize you’ve left the keys in the ignition. ---
**Author:** ![Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wonko_The_Sane)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2001, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-any-less-usual-units-of-measure/71431/44 "2001-07-11T17:48:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Scarlett67 \* > \*\*On a Saturday night one might go out and get a **snootful** (or an **assful** , depending on how vulgar one wants to be). \*\* **Assful**? What goes on at bars in your part of the world? Egads! here is my link to weird units of measure. [http://www.galactic-guide.com/articles/2R137.html](http://www.galactic-guide.com/articles/2R137.html) ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2001, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-any-less-usual-units-of-measure/71431/45 "2001-07-12T01:10:48Z")
I run across _varas_ from time to time, they were a Spanish unit of measure (1=~3 ft.) used to deed Spanish colonial land grants. Texas was originally surveyed in varas. Less often I run into _arpents_ which were a French measure of area that evolved into a linear measure based on the length of one side. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2001, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-any-less-usual-units-of-measure/71431/46 "2001-07-12T13:03:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by 'Uigi \* > **"sKosh"? (as in: move an object just a skosh. I have no idea what the correct speeling of the word might be)** It’s “skosh,” from the Japanese word _sukoshi,_ which means “a little bit.” ---
**Author:** ![BlueMoonofKentucky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8dc957/32.png) [@BlueMoonofKentucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueMoonofKentucky)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2001, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-any-less-usual-units-of-measure/71431/47 "2001-07-12T13:43:13Z")
A _ **MESS** _. Southern unit of measure defined as the amount of any foodstuff sufficient to feed everyone present with enough for second helpings for those so inclined. Implies that everyone enjoyed themselves. As in, “we cooked a mess of shuck beans for the BBQ yesterday”. -BMoK ---
**Author:** ![puk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ea5d25/32.png) [@puk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puk)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2001, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-any-less-usual-units-of-measure/71431/48 "2001-07-12T13:55:09Z")
> [@](#): > > taken from [Weird Units Of Measure](http://www.galactic-guide.com/articles/2R137.html) > > **Work** > An appropriate unit of work is the “barn-yard-atmosphere” (equal to 9.3 \* 10^-24 Joules) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2001, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-any-less-usual-units-of-measure/71431/49 "2001-07-12T19:52:08Z")
“Big enough to drive a truck through” A surgeon I trained under in medical school would frequently have a sterilized matchbox Mack truck on the instrument tray. After he finished re-connecting large intestines back together, he would compare the resulting anastomosis to the truck, and announce that the connection was acceptable, because it was “big enough to drive a truck through” ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2001, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-any-less-usual-units-of-measure/71431/50 "2001-07-12T20:21:05Z")
a jigger or shot of whiskey a tube of lipstick a stick of butter a skein of yarn a pod of whales hands - measure of horse’s height ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2001, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-any-less-usual-units-of-measure/71431/51 "2001-07-12T21:14:03Z")
Since **Dolores** has already mentioned hands, I shall introduce cubits–essentially hands+forearms. A very convenient, but entirely unstandardizable unit of measure. Both, of course, are logical extensions of the thumbknuckle inch. Cloth is available in bolts, if you’re inclined to buy large quantities. Quite a few things came in bales in my old rural home–cotton, hay, horny teenagers… Back in my second calculus class in college, we designated the unit of boredom an “adkin”, after our professor–who also inspired such things as bordon particle theory and the concept of inverse-alpha projective telepathy. One adkin was equivalent to one hour of his lecture, and sufficient to counter the effects of a sixpack of Jolt on an average student. For normal circumstances, the milliadkin was more practical. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-any-less-usual-units-of-measure/71431.md?page=2)