Kicking off the weekend with a touch of humor. This is from Luck of the Draw Comics. The imperial system of measurement being designed by someone focused on satisfying their kinks would explain a lot about it. Although having said that, the meter was defined as “one ten-millionth of the shortest distance from the North Pole to the equator passing through Paris, assuming an Earth flattening of 1/334”. Which seems an even stupider way of picking a standard length than basing it on your favorite sexy body part.
You can find more from Luck of the Draw on Reddit and Bluesky. They also have a book out.
Somehow I think Catherine the Great had to be involved with this. We could certainly use a strong ‘foot long ruler’ these days.
Agricultural land can be measured in ‘chains’, too, a unit which was originally set as the radius of a circle of grass a slave could reasonably (or unreasonably) be expected to mow with nail scissors in six hours, while chained by his bollocks to a post. And don’t let any vanilla web sites tell you otherwise.
Best wishes
S
I didn’t actually realize that chain was a real unit of measurement. Just had to go and look it up. Obviously they got the etymology wrong based on your historical analysis here, but good to know it’s a real thing!
-paltego
Oh yes, really real. And here’s a picture of the fabulous Lady Sophia Black carrying out an exercise in applied metrology, to prove it. https://contemplatingthedivine.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/tumblr_ni9ft9wjNp1sdscsyo1_1280.jpg
Best wishes
S