The Measure of Man

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Thanks, b--I found information in the online OED. Will post on the word page.

I listed eln but seeing as I don't have access to a good dictionary of ye olden lingo I can't really verify it.

Will do. :-)

reesetee, thank you, you are both brilliant, generous and kind, if you get curious to, then you can visit www.michaelchang.dk to check out my art stuff. I up date the site regularly and there's a few phobias painted on plastic their as well.

Bilby, hand is a good one--added. (After all, finger is already on the list.) MC, thank you for your kind words. I'm not sure what the words on this list would have to do with your etchings, but since I don't own them, you're welcome to them! Sounds like an interesting project, too.

I think I'll steer clear of the boxing weights, however, since they're fairly standard compared to most of the measures on the list. :-)

Heres a few measures which are a bit boring but very literally are an obscure measure of man: Light flyweight, Featherweight, Super flyweight, Cruiserweight, Super featherweight, Mini flyweight (is that a bananaflyweight?) and what kind of bird delivers a super feather?

I'll have another for you soon, with a nice Steven King citation and all. For today how about hands which are the measure of equine quadrupeds?

dear reesetee, i am officially in love with your list the measure of man and i really would love to combine it with some of my etchings, it will make a great piece of art... uh ehh, staring at my toes can i?

Great, skipvia--thanks for the suggestion. I love this stuff!

Hey reesetee--I think I have one for your list. See chain.

Thanks, rocks (and palooka too)! Oh, and by the way, trivet, I left out bottle measurements because your list speaks for itself. :-)

I know it's been said, but, wow, this is a great list!

Yes, I had a shorter list of relatively common measurements (weight only), and I folded it into this one. Good eye, trivet!

Glad to see you have my favorite unit of measurement, the scruple! Did you make a list like this once before, reesetee?

I agree with the others - great list!

Thanks, skipvia--but don't sell yourself short. You're a veritable encyclopedia of information. :-)

Sionnach, here's the link to your frivolous units of measurement list.

See, this is why I love Wordie. I learn so much more than the meager amount I contribute. Thanks, reesetee. This is wonderful.

c_b : your wish is my command. It's called "frivolous units of measurement".

Enjoy!

Apparently I don't know how to link to lists.

"Sionnach, have you made a list of frivolous units of measure? If so, where is it? If not, where is it?"

HA HA HA HA!!! Yes, sionnach, I'm another eager Wordie waiting to see one!

Thanks, kad--it's arcane enough for me! :-)

It's not arcane, but one of my favorite units of measure is the Sverdrup. In oceanography, it's a measure of the volume of water transported by a current in a given amount of time.

Thanks for the compliments and suggestions, all! John, I believe Johnny Carson once defined New York Minute as the time between when the traffic light turns green and the guy behind you starts honking his horn. Always liked that, since Philadelphia is much the same (although that unit of measure has a less lilting name). :-)

Sionnach, have you made a list of frivolous units of measure? If so, where is it? If not, where is it?

This list does rock. It's kind of bullpucky, (I had some minutes in New York that felt like they lasted at least seven or eight minutes), but there's the New York Minute.

I've always had a soft spot for Scoville units, which measure the heat of peppers. Not to mention the svedberg, the millisiemens (which would be one thousandth of a mho), and the kilderkin.

Then there are the more frivolous units:

16.5 feet in the Twilight Zone = 1 Rod Serling
1000 grams of wet socks: 1 literhosen
1 unit of suspense in a detective story = 1 whod unit

and the ever-popular millihelen and millipicture.

Day-am! This list rocks! You're going to have to stop that soon, or all my favorite lists will be yours, and that ain't fair.