Tell us something we don’t know.

   / Tell us something we don’t know. #3,801  
ning said:
wtf is a meter stick this is America measure it in multiples of football fields
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One thing that the rest of the world likes to pick on America for is the habit of our news channels to measure everything in the dumbest possible units. Now that I've pointed it out, you won't help but to notice it, and be as annoyed by it as me.

Whenever they're talking about something heavy, instead of telling you how many pounds, tons, or even kilograms it weighs, they'll tell you how many elephants or 747's it weights. But WTF does an elephant weigh? When using the 747, do they mean dry/curb weight, or max lift / loaded? And do you actually know either of these numbers?

Likewise with area, they'll tell you "it spans 500 football fields", but do they mean 120 yards (total field) or just the 100 yards between the goal posts? Also, what fraction of our population actually knows the width (53-1/3 yards) of a football field? Why not just use square yards, acres, or sq. miles?

Believe it or not, most of the world's news doesn't do this, it's an American thing.
 
   / Tell us something we don’t know. #3,804  
It's hard to realistically fake the tambourine...

AA0D67E5-59A7-497E-A537-40399061265A.gif
 
   / Tell us something we don’t know. #3,806  
WinterDeere said:
Likewise with area, they'll tell you "it spans 500 football fields", but do they mean 120 yards (total field) or just the 100 yards between the goal posts? Also, what fraction of our population actually knows the width (53-1/3 yards) of a football field? Why not just use square yards, acres, or sq. miles?

Believe it or not, most of the world's news doesn't do this, it's an American thing.
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Did you just learn me somethin?

I have always been told it is 50yds. wide.
 
   / Tell us something we don’t know. #3,807  
the reason, of course, is that all red-blooded Americans intrinsically know how big a football field is, and how heavy a 747 is (empty or fully laden, they just know the right one) - as well as every dimension of the elephant (Asian? African? see 747.), and how many car lengths (fiat? F350 cc lb? see 747.) even though they clearly can count them on the freeway.

Basically, it's "close enough".

[*puts nomex suit on*]

Also, it's because the truth is Americans also can't count reliably above 3 and so knowing that something "weighs much as a car" (2400-9000#) or an elephant (???-????) or a 747 (???????-???????????) gives them that feeling of "damn that's heavy" that the newscaster is trying to convey
 
   / Tell us something we don’t know. #3,808  
bigtiller said:
Did you just learn me somethin?

I have always been told it is 50yds. wide.
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If you scroll back a few pages to the debate on significant digits, you could argue both are correct: 5x10^1 yards.
 
   / Tell us something we don’t know. #3,809  
   / Tell us something we don’t know. #3,810  
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