# Use all the prefixes, dammit **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 22, 2014, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-all-the-prefixes-dammit/702103 "2014-10-22T02:54:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [October 22, 2014, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-all-the-prefixes-dammit/702103/1 "2014-10-22T02:54:10Z")
I was looking at an article on New Horizons, the space probe, wherein they were describing distances in billions of kilometers, an that struck me as kind of poor use of language. We have a wealth of linguistic shortcuts to help us out, here, why do we not use them? A little practice and it would become second-nature. Like, NY to LA is something like 5 megameters (or Mm — the accent would probably land on the second syllable) One AU, the distance to the Sun is about 150 Gm, Saturn is typically around 1.4 Tm from us, give or take 150 Gm. A ly is about 9.4 Pm, putting α-Centauri about 41 Pm away from us. And so forth. I mean we use the little ones – cm, mm, μm, nm, why not get used to using the big ones, instead of this mucking about with light-years and parsecs and other inconsistent blather? After all, the meter is based on a simple universal constant (the angstrom unit), why not make the universe metric? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-all-the-prefixes-dammit/702103/2 "2014-10-22T03:09:02Z")
Actually, the Angstrom unit isn’t a “proper” metric/SI unit, and has largely been replaced by 1/10th the number of nanometers. Instead of red light being around 3,000 Angstroms, these days they say around 300 nm. I was in college when this happened and watched with some interest. (I also remember when the inch was re-defined to be 2.54 cm; before 1977 or so, the conversion constant ran on to more digits, although I’ve never been successful in Googling this.) ETA: Oops, let’s say red is more like 700 nm or 7,000 Angstroms. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-all-the-prefixes-dammit/702103/3 "2014-10-22T04:25:53Z")
America can’t let go of an antiquated system simultaneously made up of Base 8 and Base 12, do you really think they can be bothered learning anything beyond kilometres? Or pronounce them correctly, for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-all-the-prefixes-dammit/702103/4 "2014-10-22T05:54:21Z")
Just a little ways. A fair peace. About a ½ days walk. about a 3 hour drive. A 2 hour flight Itty bitty. Plumb too much. Who needs a bunch of fancy numbers? Why does the rest of the world not switch to metric time. They hate the way the US does everything. All distance just needs ‘meters’ and a few adjectives. Itty bitty nano meter nano nano meter itty bitty micro meter and so on. Then the kilo meter the super big kilometer The mega kilometer. A shit pot full of mega kilometers. and so on. See, measured distances of any size only takes a few combinations of words. Not all the mess of the present metric system… ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-all-the-prefixes-dammit/702103/5 "2014-10-22T07:48:12Z")
ahhh…this gives me an excuse to link to the classic thread [where is smithereens?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=29096) In which wise Dopers discuss various units of measurement: > [@](#): > > Mass: 25.375 smithereens equal 1 flinder > > Volume: One shitload equals 25 bushels, the capacity of the John Deere’s MS 1102G; their smallest ground-driven manure spreader. One Hell of a shitload equals 660 bushels, the capacity of the MS 1260, their largest hydraulic-powered manure spreader > > Area: Seventeen all over Hell’s Half Acres equals 1 way the fuck and beyond. > > Time: 5 million waiting here with my thumb up my ass equals one Jump Jesus. 20 Jump Jesuses equal one Hell freezes over > > Indeterminates: One couldn’t care less equals 1 could care less. 40 milliequvalents of could/couldn’t care lesses equals one better than a sharp stick in the eye. I love this place. 🙂 ---
**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:** [October 22, 2014, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-all-the-prefixes-dammit/702103/6 "2014-10-22T08:22:47Z")
I like the [Smoot.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_humorous_units_of_measurement#Smoot) ---
**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:** [October 22, 2014, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-all-the-prefixes-dammit/702103/7 "2014-10-22T08:28:38Z")
Because most of those terms would never actually be used by the general public. The ones that are used work because people use them all the time. It’s also a lot easier to see how big a number is just looking at it than having to remember a prefix. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-all-the-prefixes-dammit/702103/8 "2014-10-22T10:21:53Z")
Given the ambient use of the 5 K run and the 2 CCs of medication, I would not want to see what would happen if all the prefixes were indeed used. My car has 170 M on it. Give me 5 hectos of chopped steak. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-all-the-prefixes-dammit/702103/9 "2014-10-22T13:48:15Z")
There is a large water tank where I work. It contains 40 [Myrialiters](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_prefix#Former_metric_prefixes) of water. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-all-the-prefixes-dammit/702103/10 "2014-10-22T13:53:17Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > America can’t let go of an antiquated system simultaneously made up of Base 8 and Base 12, do you really think they can be bothered learning anything beyond kilometres? Or pronounce them correctly, for that matter. Ah, the hyper-metrification argument - part of what killed acceptance here in the 1970s-80s. The idea that along with changing units, we somehow have to get super-precise in our measurements and specifications, too. Hence the mountains in Riverworld that were about 20,000 feet high - or 6153 meters. I’ll simply point out that Jolly Old England, which has gone about as metric as metric can go, still uses (weight) pounds and stone and miles in their classic places. Damn, we _could_ be _so_ precise in our everyday language. But double damn, we’re so lazy! ---
**Author:** ![iljitsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/77aa72/32.png) [@iljitsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iljitsch)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-all-the-prefixes-dammit/702103/11 "2014-10-22T16:09:16Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Hence the mountains in Riverworld that were about 20,000 feet high - or 6153 meters. This is a dilemma for translators who translate American TV shows and movies. Do they translate 20 kilofeet to 6096 meters (don’t know where you got the extra 57) or 6 km? > [@](#): > > I’ll simply point out that Jolly Old England, which has gone about as metric as metric can go Yeah right. Here in Holland, when you say “ons” (= ounce) that means one hectogram, and “pond” (= pound) 500 grams. There are also still a few sayings that use “mijl” (= mile) but nobody knows how long that is. (Just like in the English speaking world, where at least three different definitions are used.) But prefixes are for sissies, anyway. Just look what happened to the kilo in kilocalorie. Let’s use **scientific notation**. And I don’t think the boards support superscript, so that makes the distance between LA and New York 3.983e6 m. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-all-the-prefixes-dammit/702103/12 "2014-10-22T16:20:38Z")
My favorite is the Sheppey. > **[List of humorous units of measurement | Sheppey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_humorous_units_of_measurement#Sheppey)** > > A measure of distance equal to about .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);clip-path:polygon(0px 0px,0px 0px,0px 0px);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}7⁄8 of a mile (1.4 km), defined as the closest distance at which sheep remain picturesque. ... ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-all-the-prefixes-dammit/702103/13 "2014-10-22T16:21:08Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > I was looking at an article on New Horizons, the space probe, wherein they were describing distances in billions of kilometers, an that struck me as kind of poor use of language. We have a wealth of linguistic shortcuts to help us out, here, why do we not use them? A little practice and it would become second-nature. > > Like, NY to LA is something like 5 megameters (or Mm — the accent would probably land on the second syllable) > > One AU, the distance to the Sun is about 150 Gm, Saturn is typically around 1.4 Tm from us, give or take 150 Gm. > > A ly is about 9.4 Pm, putting α-Centauri about 41 Pm away from us. > > And so forth. I mean we use the little ones – cm, mm, μm, nm, why not get used to using the big ones, instead of this mucking about with light-years and parsecs and other inconsistent blather? After all, the meter is based on a simple universal constant (the angstrom unit), why not make the universe metric? You keep misspelling “yards.” ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-all-the-prefixes-dammit/702103/14 "2014-10-22T16:23:14Z")
If you say something’s a million kilometers away, people have a (probably incorrect) idea of how far away you’re talking about, but at least they understand what you’re saying. If you said it was a zettameter away, first you’d have to explain what that was, and then they’d say “Oh, a million kilometers. Got it.” ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-all-the-prefixes-dammit/702103/15 "2014-10-22T16:29:39Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > Just a little ways. > A fair peace. > About a ½ days walk. > about a 3 hour drive. > A 2 hour flight > Itty bitty. > Plumb too much. > > Who needs a bunch of fancy numbers? Don’t forget “skosh”. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-all-the-prefixes-dammit/702103/16 "2014-10-22T17:11:07Z")
[QUOTE=eschereal;17835378 Like, NY to LA is something like 5 megameters (or Mm — the accent would probably land on the second syllable) [/QUOTE] More like 4 megameters, and I’m totally going to say it like this from now on. Consider yourself to have at least one convert. (I’m going to stress the first syllable though.) ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-all-the-prefixes-dammit/702103/17 "2014-10-22T17:23:54Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Don’t forget “skosh”. RCH. ---
**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:** [October 22, 2014, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-all-the-prefixes-dammit/702103/18 "2014-10-22T17:57:02Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > You keep misspelling “yards.” those only go up to 9 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-all-the-prefixes-dammit/702103/19 "2014-10-22T18:37:50Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > America can’t let go of an antiquated system simultaneously made up of Base 8 and Base 12, do you really think they can be bothered learning anything beyond kilometres? Or pronounce them correctly, for that matter. I’m curious what you consider to be correct pronunciation. I’m not calling you out; I may well agree with your pronunciations. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-all-the-prefixes-dammit/702103/20 "2014-10-22T18:53:15Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > (I also remember when the inch was re-defined to be 2.54 cm; You must be pretty old, as this happened in 1893. 🙂 > **[Mendenhall Order](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendenhall_Order)** > > The Mendenhall Order marked a decision to change the fundamental standards of length and mass of the United States from the customary standards based on those of England to metric standards. It was issued on April 5, 1893, by Thomas Corwin Mendenhall, superintendent of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, with the approval of the United States Secretary of the Treasury, John Griffin Carlisle. The order was issued as the Survey's Bulletin No. 26 – Fundamental Standards of Length and In... [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-all-the-prefixes-dammit/702103.md?page=2)