> > Those aren't really what the units are based on.
> >The only units I'm familiar with the origins of
> >offhand are distance units - inch, foot, mile.
> >The inch is the width of three barleycorns placed
> >end to end - and, yes, the barleycorn *is*
> >uniform in size. Any three barleycorns will give
> >you more or less and inch. The foot is thirty-six
> >barleycorns. The mile, on the other hand, was
> >arrived at more arbitrarily. The mile is the
> >Roman mile (five thousand feet) plus the British
> >furlong (280 feet).
>
> Wow, that sounds about as convenient for everyday folks as "one ten-millionth the distance from the North Pole to the Equator". ;-)

Hey, did I say anything about convenient? I was just pointing out that the units have a somewhat more precise origin than "how big y3r fut iz d00d!!!" ;-}

> > Except that kilos aren't a measure of weight.
> >;-}
>
> Yeah yeah yeah. Go mass something in slugs.

If I had to mass something, I would. ;-}

> But the government is our friend....

fnord.