Only letters are letters!

[villa]

@tomndebb

Sure, an odd unit of measurement (14 lb. stone) multiplied eight times (not ten in accord with the fingers on our hands or twelve to match hours or months, but eight that has no especial meaning in any other counting system) gives us a unit of measure that ignores the meaning of the word used and that makes “perfect sense.”

(The whimsy aspect I will buy.)

You’re really bitter about this, aren’t you?

I was born in 1969, so just missed non-metric education in the UK. My mother was a science teacher though, and it always amazes me how much more difficult science and math must have been with imperial units.

I did work for one place that was pretentious enough to set pay rates in guineas rather than pounds, and that is the only place I have come across that apart from horse racing (oh yes, and Commemorative Ball tickets at Oxford). I can’t believe they managed to run that much of the world with such a screwed up system.

[Rodd_Hill]

You do know that a guinea was actually worth 21 shillings, whereas a pound was only 20, old boy?

[villa]

Indeed I do. But when they pay you fewer guineas than they would have done pounds, it makes bugger all difference, old boy.

Pass the pink gin.

[Imasquare]

@tomndebb

(I’m guessing calm kiwi’s mum weighed 101 lbs., but I don’t know why she didn’t just say 1.01 cwt like everyone else.)

In the UK, Australia, and NZ it is not usual to quote your weight in lbs. It is usually done in kilograms (1 kg = 2.2 lbs), or a combination of stone and lbs (where 1 stone = 14 lbs)

[Hamadryad]

@Scott Plaid

Also, I am the bigest[sic] idiot ever.

Hey, only because I misspelled “in7311ig3nc3.”

[sturmhauke]

2 |=U77y u|||)3|25+4//0 t3|-| 1337, j00 ^^u5+ ||[]]}3r57@//d !+s 0r|9!n5. 84 ]}@ |2!s3 0f +h3 //0r7d w!]}3 ||38, +]-[3r3 w3|2e 8][l13+i b0|23|) 5ys73m5, 0|=73|| |2u// 8y |<!]}z i][ 7/-/3!]2 83])r0o/|/|z. [}@ ]<][d5 d!|)/|/7 //4n7 [}3r |/|0^^z f!||d!//9 +]-[e][|2 ]<0113k5][u/\/ 0|= p|20][ o]2 \|4r3z, 50 +}{3y ])i5g||!z3[} i+ 1!]{3 7-\i5. +h3 457][+e ]2e4])][r ||!11 0]35e]2/3 [}@7 d 54//|3 137+3]2 ^^/\y 8 ||r!7+3][ 5e|3]241 [}|f|=3|2e/|/+ \|2y5.

[Wolfian]

@Ludovic

This post has been Ironied by the Ironer!

Light starch, sir? Very good.

[calm_kiwi]

@tomndebb

Sure, an odd unit of measurement (14 lb. stone) multiplied eight times (not ten in accord with the fingers on our hands or twelve to match hours or months, but eight that has no especial meaning in any other counting system) gives us a unit of measure that ignores the meaning of the word used and that makes “perfect sense.”

(The whimsy aspect I will buy.)

It seemed to work for eons.

Though when Americans say they weigh ??? pounds the division gets tricky :D. We went all metric years ago but some things just make more sense because that was the way you always knew them. Peoples weight makes sense to me in st and lb’s, height makes sense in feet and inches.

I am a dinosaur though and I don’t weigh or measure my self often.

[Scott_Plaid]

@Hamadryad

Hey, only because I misspelled “in7311ig3nc3.”

Damnit! I should have put in some kinda’ hyperlink there. It was a reference to an episode of Clerks, the animated series, and Randal was recounting what happened a little bit ago, and in his telling the story, he put those words in Dante’s mouth. Since I was retelling your words, it seemed funny at the time to put the same words in your mouth. Now that I look at it, that was way too far a stretch.

[sturmhauke]

2 |=U77y u|||)3|25+4//0 t3|-| 1337, j00 ^^u5+ ||[]]}3r57@//d !+s 0r|9!n5. 84 ]}@ |2!s3 0f +h3 //0r7d w!]}3 ||38, +]-[3r3 w3|2e 8][l13+i b0|23|) 5ys73m5, 0|=73|| |2u// 8y |<!]}z i][ 7/-/3!]2 83])r0o/|/|z. [}@ ]<][d5 d!|)/|/7 //4n7 [}3r |/|0^^z f!||d!//9 +]-[e][|2 ]<0113k5][u/\/ 0|= p|20][ o]2 \|4r3z, 50 +}{3y ])i5g||!z3[} i+ 1!]{3 7-\i5. +h3 457][+e ]2e4])][r ||!11 0]35e]2/3 [}@7 d 54//|3 137+3]2 ^^/\y 8 ||r!7+3][ 5e|3]241 [}|f|=3|2e/|/+ \|2y5.

A translation, in case anyone cares:

To fully understand the leet, you must understand its origins. Before the rise of the World Wide Web, there were Bulletin Board Systems, often run by kids in their bedrooms. The kids didn’t want their moms finding their collection of porn or warez [illegally copied software], so they disguised it like this. The astute reader will observe that the same letters may be written several different ways. [Some words are intentionally misspelled as well.]

[Taber]

Hey guys, could we stop with the weight units hijack? It is distracting from the OP’s vital message. I, for one, used to think leetspeak (or “l337sp34k”) was “hip” or “popular” before this OP. However, thanks to Regallag_the_Axe, I now know that it is in fact not “hip” or “popular” at all. I have been saved much internet humilation by this timely post.

[_Deep_F_ied]

::wanders in::

Wha? Huh? You talkin’ to me?

::scratches ass, wanders out::