The lost art of meaurement wording.

[brucemillar]

Folks. Those of you with an interest will, have read my recent post on my troubles in "modifying" an aftermarket Crankshaft Pulley for my Mitsubishi Pajero. This involved taking parts to a 'proper' engineering company, who do engineering 'stuff' on huge big machines that make whirry sounds and other scary noises.

It became apparent, when I was talking to the chap who wanted to try and ensure that my pulley was the correct size when they had finished the work, that he was struggling with my 'units of measure'. Very disappointing that the younger generation have lost the art of "descriptive measurement". To me it is a well honed skill from my youth, that has never left me. But is it just me?

When I requested that they mill a "smidgen" of my pulley bore, he looked horrified.
I then had to impress on him that a "Gnats ****" would be too much and that he should just allow the lathe to have a "sniff" of the metal. Makes perfect sense to me, why was he so worried? At one point a suggestion was made that "I should use a Micrometer" Dear God, I ask you FFS.

This got me thinking of other useful measurements that I employ.

When asked the size of the boot on my C55 Wagon? It is "chest of drawer sized"
Where as my 124 Wagon is "wardrobe sized"
My Pajero boot is "tighter than a young girls butt sized"

When recounting how close my gold ball was to the hole (only to people who were not there!!) it was "touching the edge"

Is it just me or have we lost the art?

 

[optimusprime]

Bruce i am with you all the way .Like in presswork on 14000 ton presses they would say component is not to the drawings ,, so we -- the setters would say it needs just a gnats wotsit on the button to bring it down further .. More than a gnats wotsit and the tools in the press are scrap..A true workman knows what to do in that possition

 

[RonFleet]

Truly a lost art.

 

[grober]

I mourn the demise of the infinitely variable old Scots engineering unit of measurement the "thochty" as in "a thochty mair aff" frequently followed by " s*** a thochty too f******! much its b******* "

 

[Scott_F]

When recounting how close my gold ball was to the hole (only to people who were not there!!) it was "touching the edge"

Have you just got the one gold ball ?

 

[Yugguy]

I am very proud that my daughter both understands and uses the multipurpose measurement "yea big"

 

[KennyN]

Is it just me or have we lost the art?

We have , a long time ago.

I served my "time" in RR 35 years ago at what point we were switching over from imperial to metric so i luckily have an understanding in both measurement units from working to 0.0001" and 0.001mm , you mention these sizes to some people now-a-days and they have no concept of what you are talking about.

I never worked out what size a "baw hair" was but it seemed to be the standard unit of incremental material removal , from a couple of baw hairs off to half a baw hair for a decent fit.

Kenny

 

[grober]

I should point out the " thochty" is of course a metric unit and supercedes the older imperial unit the " baw-hair"

 

[automaniaman]

Requesting a "smidgen " in today's environment, could be deemed as sexual harassment...

 

[brucemillar]

An "eighth butt" was an eighth of an inch with an added smidgen that would have ruined a great fit if made into two eighth's or one quarter. We knew what it meant and never had to explain it. It was just there, something that you measured and cut. 'Three foot six and an eighth butt' any less it fell out!! any more it didn't fit. It was a science all in it's own right.

I know how to 'nip up' a nut or to pinch a bolt, but would struggle with xxNm of torque. My 124 is indeed the length of an 'aircraft carrier' and corners, when correctly set up, like a 'Chesterfield Sofa'. I know that my wife shouts at the volume of a 'Submarine Dive Claxon'. But......

Tastes like 'shyte' Hmmmmm. Does anybody really go about tasting shyte and publishing the findings on some kind of scale?

 

[Druk]

What about the standard BBC measurements, vis: "The size of Wales'" ...or...as high as "three double deckers"..or.."two football pitches laid end-to-end"

 

[Druk]

I should point out the " thochty" is of course a metric unit and supercedes the older imperial unit the " baw-hair"

Those from Armadale would recognise..'a wee tate' but i've never lost the "baw-hair". Don't like metric.


.

 

[Stratman]

In my time as a BBC engineer we had a couple in common usage; JND or just noticeable difference and Good Enough for Sport, which wasn't a compliment

 

[markjay]

...My Pajero boot is "tighter than a young girls butt sized"...

I think you should announce your resignation for not falling low enough to meet the standard required from an MBclub member.

 

[markjay]

Well in ancient times everyone knew how long a 'foot' was, untill someone had to spoil the fun by actually putting a measurement on that.

 

[Peter103]

Driving my Dad years ago and getting a bit too close through a gap in traffic he said, "christ boy, another coat of paint we'd have hit him".

 

[Scott_F]

What about the standard BBC measurements, vis: "The size of Wales'" ...or...as high as "three double deckers"..or.."two football pitches laid end-to-end"

And the standard units of volume are multiples of "Olympic-sized swimming pools".

 

[Deleted member 6183]

Just how thick is a Gurkha's foreskin?

 

[Darrell]

And the standard units of volume are multiples of "Olympic-sized swimming pools".

Or “football pitches” when referring to length.

 

[gaz_l]

Many years ago at work we'd licensed a product to be made in Canada and they were coming up with all kinds of stupid questions as to how to assemble it. One work instruction stated something like "Apply Loctite 242 threadlocking compound to the fixing before attaching". How much should they apply, they wanted to know? "One British Standard dob", we replied. Only confused them more..

Cheers,

Gaz