Journalistic measurements

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stickywicket
stickywicket Member Posts: 27,712
edited 22. May 2012, 06:57 in Community Chit-chat archive
As I was drifting between sleep and wakefulness this morning I heard a voice on the radio describing something as 'The length of two football pitches'. This set me wondering (and woke me up). Why can't the press use standard measurements?

I think, in order of size, the journo measurements I've come across are:

1. The postage stamp. (Which country?)
2. The football pitch (There is, I believe no standard width)
3. The Royal Albert Hall (For Londoners, presumably. Northerners may stick with the footie pitch.)
4. The Wales. (Never the England, Scotland or Ireland)
5. The Empire State Building (Height only)

There is also the 'ball' scale, often used for bits that have been surgically removed ie
the pea
the golf ball
the tennis ball
the grapefruit
the melon (Keep it clean, you chaps)

Any more?
If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
Steven Wright

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  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,712
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    Ah, how could I forget such a staple measurement as the double decker bus? Thanks, delboy.

    Not sure about 'The Angel'. I came past it yesterday and the trees and bushes surrounding it have grown so much that you can barely see it now from the A1 going south. Maybe the Blackpool Tower?
    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright
  • julie47
    julie47 Member Posts: 6,041
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    Don't know if journalists use this measurement but it is said that "you are for the high jump"

    How highs that then :? :lol:

    juliepf x :D
  • joanlawson
    joanlawson Member Posts: 8,681
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    Journalists often seem preoccupied with words to describe the body shape/size of women eg. hour-glass, pear-shaped, apple-shaped, willowy, curvy (ie.anything larger than a size eight)

    Not telling which one I am :!: :lol:
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  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    Don't tennis courts play a small role in this too? Or am I getting confused by the possibly cod fact that your lungs, when spread out, cover an area the size of a teenis court?

    I find myself being somewhat bemused when residential property is described in square feet - it's common industrial/office space but why is it spreading to domestic areas? I have no idea what 1500 square feet may be, but tell me a house has three bedrooms and I get a vague idea about its size. DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,712
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    Julie - A high jump, for me is about 3” off the ground using the scissor kick. If I’m to use the Fosbury Flop and get both feet off the ground simultaneously – forget it :) .

    Rehab – are we still talking Nelson’s Column here, then, or ambitious matchstick? :wink:

    Joan – I’m the full fruit salad. :roll:

    DD – the tennis court – another classic which slipped my memory. As for house measurements - having checked out some 'bedrooms' which would struggle to hold merely a small, single bed - I'm not sure.
    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright
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