this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2025
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Anything But Metric

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Americans will use anything but metric

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[–] stebo02@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 hour ago

americans will use anything but metric

[–] jonesey71@lemmus.org 4 points 2 hours ago

In my mind half a giraffe is just a horse. Just say it is the size of a horse.

[–] iii@mander.xyz 14 points 3 hours ago

It's usually not the scientists that write shitty headlines like this 🫤

[–] original_reader@lemmy.zip 3 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

Why do some have the need to describe things in the oddest "measurements"? I understand that it makes it easier to imagine sometimes, but "half a" ... never mind, found someone who explains this much better than me: https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/for-want-of-a-half-giraffe/

Thanks, Charles C. W. Cooke.

[–] ech@lemmy.ca 31 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Assume a spherical giraffe.

[–] billwashere@lemmy.world 10 points 5 hours ago

On a frictionless plane?

[–] astrsk@fedia.io 2 points 3 hours ago

That’s an easy one, down the middle.

[–] fartographer@lemmy.world 3 points 3 hours ago

The third half

[–] BeigeAgenda@lemmy.ca 6 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

How many bananas are we talking about here?

[–] andyburke@fedia.io 3 points 6 hours ago

A giraffe is a unit of mass....

[–] TheBat@lemmy.world 2 points 6 hours ago
[–] pimento64@sopuli.xyz 2 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Halving always produces equal proportions

[–] Darkassassin07@lemmy.ca 3 points 4 hours ago

Only when halved along a line of symmetry.

A body cut in half at the waist, leaves you with two very different halves despite being the same length/height.

Cut in half along the spine though and you could have two equal, yet mirrored, halves.

With a long neck like a giraffe, half way down the length between the head+tail, one of those 'halves' is going to be much heavier/bulkier.