The astro-giraffe...

[chiltonstar]

Maybe add the 'serpent' as a unit of length  and particularly poignant for astronomers, the 'moz' as a unit of frequency.

Chris

[Zermelo]

11 minutes ago, chiltonstar said:

Maybe add the 'serpent' as a unit of length

and a very useful one too, as it comes ready-divided into sub-units

[ollypenrice]

15 minutes ago, chiltonstar said:

Maybe add the 'serpent' as a unit of length  and particularly poignant for astronomers, the 'moz' as a unit of frequency.

Chris

...and the Serpentine as a derived value, S2/S1 (when S2 is the serpent's own length and S1 is its length as measured in a straight line from tail to head.

It is sometimes argued that a serpent is faster when it has a low S ratio but this is an example of the S ratio myth.

Olly

PS, Could wavelength be measured in Mexicans?

Edited March 17, 2022 by ollypenrice

[Ibbo!]

"A gnats" has made into engineering measurement so...

 

or maybe somebody is just having a laugh.

[Alien 13]

I personally am far more comfortable when something is described in "London bus" lengths or even body parts, still use my thumb joint to approximate an inch and of course feet which give a good idea of length too.

Alan

[Alien 13]

9 minutes ago, Ibbo! said:

"A gnats" has made into engineering measurement so...

 

or maybe somebody is just having a laugh.

Everyone immediately knows how big a "gnats" is or a fag paper, think the brain is wired for visible objects rather than arbitrary measurements.

Alan

[Stu]

Rolling in thick and fast now…. 🤣🤣

[StevieDvd]

2 hours ago, Dinglem said:

If you need to know the weight of a whale you'll have to go to a Whale-Weigh Station, I'll get my coat.

Thanks for correctly getting that one, what about the pies?

[ollypenrice]

20 minutes ago, Stu said:

Rolling in thick and fast now…. 🤣🤣

Triceratops: How bad is it????

T Rex: It's the full giraffe...

Olly

[wimvb]

2 hours ago, Dinglem said:

If you need to know the weight of a whale you'll have to go to a Whale-Weigh Station, I'll get my coat.

Obviously in the wrong thread. 😄

 

[Mr Spock]

Perhaps the impact strength of meteorites should be measured in dinosaurs?

Like the Richter scale, Fujita scale or VEI, The Dino scale could be widely accepted. Something like Tunguska would be a solid D3, whereas Chicxulub would be a D∞ 😜

[maw lod qan]

Must be really cloudy on that side of the pond.

But I have enjoyed reading the humor.

When I saw that article on face book all I could think was how they had to say "impacted the Earth" versus burnt up in the atmosphere. 

Will giraffes be listed on Stellarium so we can all start looking for them?

[Ags]

1 hour ago, Mr Spock said:

Perhaps the impact strength of meteorites should be measured in dinosaurs?

Like the Richter scale, Fujita scale or VEI, The Dino scale could be widely accepted. Something like Tunguska would be a solid D3, whereas Chicxulub would be a D∞ 😜

Would that be in Brontosaurs or Velociraptors?

[wimvb]

6 minutes ago, Ags said:

Would that be in Brontosaurs or Velociraptors?

Brontosaurus in Europe, Velociraptor in Australia and South Africa, T-Rex in America except Canada. Just like any other established unit.

[cajen2]

I think ants would be useful in astronomy. "I gave my new 50-ant apo its first light tonight using my 3-ant Baader EP, splitting a double with only 0.3 of an ant separation...."

[Zermelo]

1 hour ago, wimvb said:

Brontosaurus in Europe, Velociraptor in Australia and South Africa, T-Rex in America except Canada. Just like any other established unit.

... and Apatosaurus. Conversion rate of 1:1 with Brontosaurus.

(like rod, poles and perches)

[wimvb]

2 hours ago, maw lod qan said:

Must be really cloudy on that side of the pond.

Cloudy, windy and a full moon. Not that we need an excuse for bad, or any other kind of jokes.

[ollypenrice]

The badness of a joke could, perhaps, be expresssed in skunks?

(Or should that unit be reserved for anther purpose? Don't go there!)

Olly

Edited March 18, 2022 by ollypenrice

[StevieDvd]

I get confused by certain measurements of time.

Like 'half a mo'

And 'just a sec'

Both seem to be based on a random time amount, the 'sec' not equal to a second .

[Swoop1]

1 hour ago, StevieDvd said:

I get confused by certain measurements of time.

Like 'half a mo'

And 'just a sec'

Both seem to be based on a random time amount, the 'sec' not equal to a second .

The sec is accepted as being far longer than a second. Ask anyone to do something and then start counting after they reply "Just a sec". You will always get to at least 10 seconds before action starts.

[ollypenrice]

6 hours ago, Swoop1 said:

The sec is accepted as being far longer than a second. Ask anyone to do something and then start counting after they reply "Just a sec". You will always get to at least 10 seconds before action starts.

...though you might wait a year. 

Which reminds me, does anyone still say 'Donkies' years?'  My grandmother (born 1890) used it all the time to mean 'ages and ages.'

Olly

[Ags]

My dad used it, but I  haven't heard the phrase in... donkey's years.

[RT65CB-SWL]

"You're havin' a giraffe!"* - said in faux 'Cockney'/'Eastenders' dialect!

* translated: "One is having a good laugh!"

Edited March 19, 2022 by Philip R

[Mr Spock]

You lot are three ha'pence short of a farthing 😜

[StevieDvd]

11 hours ago, Mr Spock said:

You lot are three ha'pence short of a farthing 😜

Not heard of that one, even when I sold my last farthing for a ten bob note (true).

I've only seen/heard of sayings where the shortage could be a fact.  For the younger members a farthing was 1/4 of a penny (three ha'pence was 1 1/2 pence or 6 farthings).

If I am mistaken it would seem we owe you 5 farthings, though as a group we may not have 2 pennies to rub together. 😁