Units you didn’t know existed (part 1)
The modern metric system of units and standards of measure hails from the 17th and 18th century, and the efforts to establish an easy to use system of weights and measures that would be practical all over the world. However, besides the usual metres, kilograms, pints, and miles, there are a number of metric and imperial measures used today that are simply strange!
Nit (nt): A unit of luminance coming from the Latin niteo, meaning to shine. It is equal to one candela per m2, or 10-4 stilb, which in turn comes from the Greek stilbein, to glitter.
Growler: A unit for a beer container in the US, intended to be taken away, that holds about 1.89 litres.
Jerk: A unit of acceleration change in engineering. When you sit in a car and it jerks, it is a change in acceleration of one foot per second per second in one second, or 1ft/sec3. This equals about 0.3048 m/s3.
Tical: A unit of weight in SE Asia, taken from the coin of the same name. It is still used in Myanmar (Burma) to measure precious metals and drugs, and is equal to 16.4 grams.
Butt: A unit of volume for wines and other alcoholic drinks. A butt is equal to 2 hogsheads. In the UK, a butt of beer is 108 imperial gallons or 490.98 litres. The word comes from the Roman word buttis, meaning a large cask for wine.
Degree MacMichael (°McM): A unit to measure the viscosity or thickness of chocolate. Values range from about 60 °McM (thin runny chocolate) to about 190 °McM (very thick chocolate for dipping). A MacMichael viscometer is used to make the measurement.
Noggin: An old fashioned unit of liquid volume, used in Ireland. It is equal to about ¼ pint, but sometimes taken to be a half pint - typical!
Scoville unit: A unit for measuring the concentration of capsaicin in chillies. Developed by Wilbur Scoville in 1912, it is on a scale of 0 to 577,000 for the hottest recorded chilli, which was a Habeñero. A measurement of 30,000 units means that to make the burn of the chilli undetectable to the human tongue, it should be diluted bye 30,000 to 1 with sugared water. Nowadays, liquid chromatography is used to measure it more accurately. Jalapeno rate between 2,500-10,000, Cayenne from 30,000-50,000, Habeñero from 80,000-300,000+. Pure capsaicin measures 16,000,000 Scoville units.
Smidgen: It really is a small unit of material. Recently, stores selling kitchen supplies in America and other countries have sold measuring spoon sets, where the smallest spoon is called a smidgen. It is equal to ½ a pinch, 1/32 of a teaspoon, 0.005 fluid ounces or 0.15 ml. The word comes from smutch, or smudge, meaning a small spot.
Lippie: An long-established unit of Scotland, equal to ¼ Scots peck, or about 2.27 litres of wheat, peas or beans; and 3.04 litres of barley or oats.
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