• SeeMarkFly@lemmy.ml
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    22 days ago

    I use metric to hold papers down on my desk.

    If I have 10 papers, I add another metric.

  • Yesterday I searched for how much an acre is, only to find this: https://www.wagrown.com/what-does-an-acre-look-like

    1,584 potatoes
    The amount of potatoes needed to make a line from one end to the other end of an acre.

    And Wikipedia made it sound even funnier to me: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acre

    It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, 1⁄640 of a square mile, 4,840 square yards, or 43,560 square feet, and approximately 4,047 m2, or about 40% of a hectare.

    Or with rods: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_(unit)

    The ‘perfect acre’ is a rectangular area of 43,560 square feet, bounded by sides 660 feet (a furlong) long and 66 feet (a chain) wide (220 yards by 22 yards) or, equivalently, 40 rods by 4 rods. An acre is therefore 160 square rods or 10 square chains.

      • Warl0k3@lemmy.world
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        22 days ago

        Agreed, this seems like a 100% completely honest attempt to be a relatable reference and clearly has no humor injected into it at all.

        edit: 1 acre is equivalent to 4 ‘roods’ lmao that’s wonderful.

  • Someonelol@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    22 days ago

    Metric is scientific, media units are relatable. 355 CC’s with a mass of roughly 360 kgs is hardly easy to visualize compared to 3 elephants on a scale next to a can of Dr Pepper.

  • ryper@lemmy.ca
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    22 days ago

    Most people probably know how big a pop can is, and understand that even baby elephants are pretty heavy. It gets the point across better than “A meteor with a volume of approximately one third of a litre and a mass of approximately 350 kilograms”.

    • shalafi@lemmy.world
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      22 days ago

      But it’s so ludicrous it doesn’t pass even the most basic smell test.

      What’s a baby elephant weight? 100lbs., right out my butt. (Google says 200 at birth.) You can’t pack 300lbs. of anything into a pop can. Nothing in this solar system.

  • davidgro@lemmy.world
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    22 days ago

    It’s not “Meteor the size of a Dr Pepper” but “A meteor The size of Dr Pepper” as in the whole company.

  • nosuchanon@lemmy.world
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    22 days ago

    Y’all failed to realize that Americans are math, science, and just regular plain sorts of illiterate. So if you want them to understand anything, you have to give it to them in units they can physically see or common household objects.

    Just think of it as trying to explain a difficult concept to a toddler or maybe at best a six-year-old. That’s what it feels like talking to the American public.