# What is a click?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-click/21917>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 10, 2000, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-click/21917 "2000-06-10T00:01:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![argyle87](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/90ced4/32.png) [@argyle87](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/argyle87)\
**Post date:** [June 10, 2000, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-click/21917/1 "2000-06-10T00:01:40Z")

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Ever watch movies about the military? They always refer to a unit of linear measurement called a “click”. I have been wondering about this since I was a kid, what the hell is a “click”?

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**Author:** ![SoapBoxMessiah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58f4c7/32.png) [@SoapBoxMessiah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoapBoxMessiah)\
**Post date:** [June 10, 2000, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-click/21917/2 "2000-06-10T00:06:58Z")

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Ooh, ooh, I know this one.

Click = kilometer.

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**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\
**Post date:** [June 10, 2000, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-click/21917/3 "2000-06-10T00:07:17Z")

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That’s a kilometer. Saving syllables could save your life!

And it sounds a lot more macho.

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**Author:** ![Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6de8d8/32.png) [@Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilgore_Trout_1)\
**Post date:** [June 10, 2000, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-click/21917/4 "2000-06-10T00:08:11Z")

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a kilometer.

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**Author:** ![argyle87](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/90ced4/32.png) [@argyle87](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/argyle87)\
**Post date:** [June 10, 2000, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-click/21917/5 "2000-06-10T05:54:02Z")

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a kilometer. How disappointing…

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**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 10, 2000, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-click/21917/6 "2000-06-10T06:11:11Z")

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and it’s spelled “klick”, BTW. Minor nitpick.

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**Author:** ![sewalk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@sewalk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sewalk)\
**Post date:** [June 10, 2000, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-click/21917/7 "2000-06-10T10:12:07Z")

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When I was a Military Policeman in Germany (1988-1990) we could always tell the old-timers from their use of the word “klick”. Most of us younger guys used the word “kay” for kilometer but I must admit that we did occasionally use “klick”, most probably due to the more macho sound.

Give a bunch of 18-19 year old kids badges and guns and a certain level of machismo is pretty much unavoidable.

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**Author:** ![Xgemina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/b5e925/32.png) [@Xgemina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xgemina)\
**Post date:** [June 10, 2000, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-click/21917/8 "2000-06-10T10:34:33Z")

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“klick = macho”

that’s why infantrymen use klick, cause ya can’t spell wimp without a MP.