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The system of SI units is a largely internationally-agreed standard units of measurement; things like mass being measured in KG, temperature being measured in degrees kelvin (like a degree centigrade, but colder), and time being measured in seconds.
There are several specialist SI units for very specific circumstances which are rather less well known:
Dinosaur Measurement: The standard unit for measuring the size of a dinosaur is the 'car', so a triceratops is 'about the size of a car' or the Pleisosaur recently found in Devon was 'big enough to eat a car' (hence it being carniverous*).
Scaling up is easy, with three cars equalling one 'bus', so a Tyrannosaurus Rex was 'taller than a bus'.
For extremely precise dinosaur measurements, we can use the specific measurement of the 'London Bus' (roughly 1.1837 busses), so a Brontosaurus was as 'long as three London Busses'
Poor government and emotional blackmail: The SI unit of bad government is 'the child'. The value of a child rises according to the degree of social control and emotional blackmail being attempted, so we start with
If seatbelt laws save one child from harm, then they are worthwhile.
This leads to:
If 24-hour surveillance and banning parents from playing with their own children saves one child from harm, then they are worthwhile.
And hence inevitably to:
If harming a hundred children saves one child from harm, then it is worthwile.
Internet outrage: 'The Twitter' replaced the 'Blog Post' as the SI unit for internet outrage in early 2008. A remarkably small unit of measurement, a single twitter is a barely noticable fluctuation of outrage on the quantum level. However, several units for scaling up have since been developed, including the Lily Allen (equal to five ordinary twitters), the Paris Hilton (equal to twenty ordinary twitters) and the Stephen Fry (equal to a thousand ordinary twitters).
*Ah, I kill myself sometimes.
There are several specialist SI units for very specific circumstances which are rather less well known:
Dinosaur Measurement: The standard unit for measuring the size of a dinosaur is the 'car', so a triceratops is 'about the size of a car' or the Pleisosaur recently found in Devon was 'big enough to eat a car' (hence it being carniverous*).
Scaling up is easy, with three cars equalling one 'bus', so a Tyrannosaurus Rex was 'taller than a bus'.
For extremely precise dinosaur measurements, we can use the specific measurement of the 'London Bus' (roughly 1.1837 busses), so a Brontosaurus was as 'long as three London Busses'
Poor government and emotional blackmail: The SI unit of bad government is 'the child'. The value of a child rises according to the degree of social control and emotional blackmail being attempted, so we start with
If seatbelt laws save one child from harm, then they are worthwhile.
This leads to:
If 24-hour surveillance and banning parents from playing with their own children saves one child from harm, then they are worthwhile.
And hence inevitably to:
If harming a hundred children saves one child from harm, then it is worthwile.
Internet outrage: 'The Twitter' replaced the 'Blog Post' as the SI unit for internet outrage in early 2008. A remarkably small unit of measurement, a single twitter is a barely noticable fluctuation of outrage on the quantum level. However, several units for scaling up have since been developed, including the Lily Allen (equal to five ordinary twitters), the Paris Hilton (equal to twenty ordinary twitters) and the Stephen Fry (equal to a thousand ordinary twitters).
*Ah, I kill myself sometimes.
