j_bertolottiJul 20, 2023
The first time I ever heard the word "fortnight" was when somebody told me that one furlong per fortnight is almost exactly 1 cm per minute.
That was also the first time I was exposed to the word "furlong". You can imagine my confusion.
Show threadJohn Carlos Baez
@j_bertolotti - interestingly furlongs are only used for horizontal distances, and fathoms only for vertical, so the number of fathoms per furlong is like the speed of light in meters/second.
Jul 20, 2023 at 12:33pmWeb
Show threadMatt McIrvinJul 20, 2023
@johncarlosbaez Reminds me of the Saturday Night Live sketch that is a "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" parody, in which Captain Nemo spends the whole thing unsuccessfully struggling to explain that 20,000 leagues is a distance and not how deep they are.
Show threadOscar CunninghamJul 20, 2023
@mattmcirvin @johncarlosbaez I just tried to watch this but apparently it's lost media. We only have the second half of it: https://www.reddit.com/r/lostmedia/comments/zkk2gt/partially_lost_snl_sketch_20000_leagues_under_the/.
[Partially lost] SNL Sketch “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea” - Episode S19E17

I’ve tried to find this complete sketch for years. Every version I find seems to come from the same VHS recording. It only ever has about half...

reddit
Show threadj_bertolottiJul 20, 2023
@johncarlosbaez Well, not that we have one unit for the x-axis and one (different) unit for the y-axis, I guess what we really need is a unit for the z-axis.
Show threadMatt McIrvinJul 20, 2023
@j_bertolotti Astronomers use different units for all the spherical coordinates!
Show threadj_bertolottiJul 20, 2023
@mattmcirvin Astronomers also plot the temperature from very hot near the origin to cold at the edge of the axis 😉
Show threadΣ(i³) = (Σi)²Jul 20, 2023
@j_bertolotti @mattmcirvin Astronomers also use the delightful units megameters (Mm) and kilo Kelvin (kK)...
(I've never seen either, but astronomy has arguably use for pico pascal (ppa ?) and also for peta pascal (ppa ?). How those two would be distinguished is unclear to me)
Show threadMatt McIrvinJul 20, 2023
@SvenGeier @j_bertolotti I think those would be pPa and PPa respectively, if I remember my SI.
Show threadJohn Carlos BaezJul 20, 2023
@j_bertolotti - fathoms is only used for the z axis, or maybe you would say the r axis in spherical coordinates: it's a measure of *depth*.