Laughter is Good Medicine: Some Truly Useful Information

We all know that medicine uses a number of different units of measure – ways of measuring and describing things. There are European units of measure, metric units, English units, American units, and other “standard” and “non-standard” units of measure to be found – this is one of the things that gives a careful doctor or nurse headaches!

Some of the units of measure we work with are familiar to most folks and many know roughly the conversions from one to another – a kilogram is about 2.2 pounds, an inch is about 2.5 centimeters, a liter is just a few drops more than a quart, and so on – others are more esoteric, and in the interest of educating our readers (and ourselves) we are including the following conversion

Conversion Units for the Scientifically Challenged

• Ratio of an igloo’s circumference to its diameter = Eskimo Pi
• 2000 pounds of Chinese soup = Won ton
• 1 millionth of a mouthwash = 1 microscope
• Time between slipping on a peel and smacking the pavement = 1 bananosecond
• Weight an evangelist carries with God = 1 billigram
• Time it takes to sail 220 yards at 1 nautical mile per hour = Knotfurlong
• 16.5 feet in the Twilight Zone = 1 Rod Serling
• Half of a large intestine = 1 semicolon
• 1,000,000 aches = 1 megahurtz
• Basic unit of laryngitis = 1 hoarsepower
• Shortest distance between two jokes = A straight line
• 453.6 graham crackers = 1 pound cake
• 1 million microphones = 1 megaphone
• 2 million bicycles = 2 megacycles
• 365.25 days = 1 unicycle
• 2000 mockingbirds = 2 kilomockingbirds
• 52 cards = 1 decacards
• 1 kilogram of falling figs = 1 Fig Newton
• 1000 milliliters of wet socks = 1 literhosen
• 1 millionth of a fish = 1 microfiche
• 1 trillion pins = 1 terrapin
• 10 rations = 1 decoration
• 100 rations = 1 C-ration
• 2 monograms = 1 diagram
• 4 nickels = 2 paradigms
• 2.4 statute miles of intravenous surgical tubing at Yale University Hospital = 1 IV League
• 100 Senators = Not 1 decision

Stumble! for WP