I like obscure things, simply because the nature of their being obscure means I might be part of the minority that actually knows about the existence of whatever the “obscure thing” it is. But what I enjoy most about learning something obscure is being able to share it with others…not for the sake of making myself look smart, but because it feels like sharing the results of a mental archaeological dig. Does that make sense? Sometimes the obscure facts or stories result in inspiration for a new story, or just shine a light onto some weird trivia of life.
So in that vein, here’s a short list of various Obscure Units of Measure that we don’t tend to use on a daily basis.
Nibble: four bits of binary code
Pack year: cigarette consumption based on one pack a day for a year
Smoot: a measure of length developed by some MIT students, equal to 5 feet, 7 inches — the height of one Oliver R. Smoot
Try and work those into your next story somehow. Better yet, make up your own obscure unit of measurement and build your entire world on it. You’ve seen writers do that, especially those in the speculative fiction genres. Fantasy worlds where miles are called “telogs” or inches are called “squibbles.” In my opinion, there’s nothing wrong with transferring understood measurement terms into a made-up world, unless the measurement you’ve made up has some relevancy to the story and is actually unique, not just renaming something to make it sound exotic. Like…how would you measure a certain level of magical energy, or how would you time the duration of a spell?
I see that smile.
Hrm. I like that list. I’ve heard of score (Four score and twenty years ago) only because a former teacher drilled it all into our thick adolescent skulls.
Having a friend in junior high who raised and competed horses, I am also familiar with ‘hand’ as well.
BUTT sounds really interesting…! *giggle*
Looking down.. the word verification reads: gasynvj
*more giggles*
So what unit measure would a gasynvj indicate?
Dear Josh,
I was googling “obscure units of measurement” when I found this page. Thank you for it. It's not exactly what I was looking for, something more along the lines of “a pinch” or “a smidge…” I'll keep looking.
However, I was delighted to see the title of your blog, as I am in the midst of a CD project of a very similar name (A Mirror, Dimly).
And mostly I just wanted to mention that it was cool. And just made my last five minutes.
Okaybai.
Fun to have you drop by, Stacie! Your CD project sounds fun…is that a music project?