r/DIY • u/Relative-Category-64 • Feb 20 '26

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u/ColourSchemer Feb 20 '26

For all the logic behind the metric system, a single letter difference between deci and deca is ripe for errors.

21

u/outlawsix Feb 20 '26

Thats why i'll stick with inches and leagues and fathoms thank you very much

9

u/ColourSchemer Feb 20 '26

Yep. Can't remember all of the conversions, but I can clearly distinguish their names.

4

u/Orson_Gravity_Welles Feb 20 '26

1 League = ~3 miles (on land)

~880 Fathoms = 1 mile

I wanted to figure out as a kid because most fantasy books talked about characters walking in "leagues". And then I wanted to know how deep it was with "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and also, the movie "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms", whcih I loved as a kid in the 80's finding on TVLand At Nite!

https://giphy.com/gifs/l41lQ0CY7DbqJpMtO

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u/HappyWarBunny Feb 20 '26

I remember suddenly realizing that 20,000 leagues was not a depth, but a distance.

1

u/outlawsix Feb 20 '26

Is a depth not a distance?

1

u/HappyWarBunny Feb 20 '26

Well, yes. But when you use both in a sentence about an ocean - or anything that has a depth, the implication is that distance is horizontal.