this post was submitted on 22 Apr 2026
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[–] UnfortunateShort@lemmy.world 159 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (22 children)

What the fuck is "half a pickup truck" for a measure

[–] Mantzy81@aussie.zone 169 points 4 weeks ago (4 children)

Americans will use anything other than the metric system.

[–] BarbecueCowboy@lemmy.dbzer0.com 46 points 4 weeks ago (6 children)

As an american, I am 100% onboard on switching entirely to measuring things in terms of pickup trucks.

[–] Corngood@lemmy.ml 57 points 4 weeks ago (5 children)
  1. Preheat oven to 1 pickup truck
  2. Bake for 1 pickup truck
[–] DomeGuy@lemmy.world 24 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Since most automobiles are water-cooled, the pickup truck temp is probably about 110 f / 43 c, so you'd want to preheat to 3 1/2 pickup trucks.

Similarly, since the mean life of trucks is probably 20 years, we'd measure casual time in a subdivisions of 175,320 hours / 10,519,200 minutes. One picotruck would be 1/10th of a minute, so you want to bake for 300 pico-trucks

We will of course maintain this system once trucks become 50-year lived semi-autonomous drones that never get over 35 c, because the one constant in defining units is that rejiggijng definitions is preferred to technical precison.

[–] ZoteTheMighty@lemmy.zip 5 points 4 weeks ago

Your oven will preheat in about 5 minutes, which means it's heading at 3pickup trucks per 50 picotrucks, or, once you reduce the units, 60 billion.

[–] nilloc@discuss.tchncs.de 19 points 4 weeks ago

F-350°F for F-150 minutes.

I think this could be an untapped cookbook market. Make it look like a shop manual and I’m in.

[–] MagnificentSteiner@lemmy.zip 9 points 4 weeks ago

This is what it's like for Europeans to follow American recipes!

1 cup of any liquid... no problem, that's 240ml.

1 cup of raisins... who fucking knows.

[–] Deestan@lemmy.world 7 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (1 children)

This pickup truck can accelerate to thirty thousand pickup trucks per hour, and fuel efficiency is one quarter quarter quarter toy pickup truck per pickup truck.

[–] scutiger@lemmy.world 6 points 4 weeks ago

Things got confusing when my electric meter started reporting pickup truck pickup truck pickup trucks.

[–] k0e3@lemmy.ca 3 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

This recipe serves 2-3 pickup trucks

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 4 points 3 weeks ago

The test results are back, you are HIV pickup truck.

[–] gnate@lemmy.world 6 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

But the reference objects keep getting bigger!

[–] BarbecueCowboy@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 4 weeks ago

It's like a cubit, it changes depending on who's in charge.

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[–] tal@lemmy.today 16 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (4 children)

This is a Canadian publication.

EDIT:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Narwhal

The Narwhal is a Canadian investigative online magazine that focuses on environmental issues.[1][2]

[–] cecilkorik@lemmy.ca 11 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Unfortunately, a lot of Americanisms have infected Canada due to our historically extremely close trade and cultural relationship with them. Measurement ignorance is one example. Some Americanisms actually become arguably worse in Canada, because we are effectively rudderless, pulled in all different directions by both our own laws and customs and American laws and customs at the same time, resulting in an even less well-defined choice of units. Another example is dates. The US uses mm/dd/yy which is already stupid on its own, but Canada uses BOTH mm/dd/yy and dd/mm/yy seemingly without rhyme or reason, which results in complete ambiguity of many dates, or trying to figure out based on context, looking for other dates that might use a day number >12 to identify which one actually is the day vs the month.

It's awful. I am happy we are distancing ourselves from the US right now, but I'm not sure it will ever be enough to totally escape their shadow.

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 6 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (2 children)

The US uses mm/dd/yy which is already stupid on its own, but Canada uses BOTH mm/dd/yy and dd/mm/yy seemingly without rhyme or reason

Maintains our cognitive health. Can't just look at a date and know what it is without doing math and logic (method of exclusion)!

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 3 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

and when it's 2/3 which is it?

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 3 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (1 children)

Then you get to exercise probability theory. 😆 Worst case scenario gotta talk to people.

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[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 5 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

yeah, we have fucking idiots who have no idea what a kilogram is.

[–] Deestan@lemmy.world 3 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

Maybe if we tricked them into saying, like, "as heavy as a three hundred kilogram box of bricks"

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[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 3 points 4 weeks ago

okay point for canadians being american in that american covers the continents sometimes, not just stupid ol' statesia

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[–] TachyonTele@piefed.social 3 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] Infinite@lemmy.zip 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)
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[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 3 points 4 weeks ago (3 children)
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[–] gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 12 points 4 weeks ago (7 children)

Americans will use literally anything except the metric system 😔

[–] diverging@piefed.social 7 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (1 children)
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[–] AmidFuror@fedia.io 4 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

You posted a minute earlier, but the other guy got the upvotes. Or maybe the timing is based on instance?

I’m unbothered by that - It’s lemmy, them’s the breaks sometimes 🤷‍♂️

[–] Mantzy81@aussie.zone 2 points 4 weeks ago

Must've been writing at the same time - I checked to see if anyone had said the same thing first too.

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[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 12 points 4 weeks ago (4 children)

Two of them is roughly the size of a pickup truck...

Like, it's volume, they could say X gallons, but it would be hard for people to visualize. So people use an example most readers would be familiar with.

Have you honestly never wondered why journalists use random things? Or has no one taken the time to answer before?

It's been common literally for centuries before either of us were born, but most likely all of human existence. Just with animals like buffalo instead of pickup trucks.

[–] ShellMonkey@piefed.socdojo.com 12 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

I think the issue is half of a regular truck or a 'Murica' truck. I got loaned one of the latter last I had some work done on my regular vehicle, it wouldn't fit in the garage and I had to actually use the steps/handles to get in. As a 6 foot plus person that's kinda abnormal.

[–] JohnEdwa@sopuli.xyz 7 points 4 weeks ago

And which 'Murica pickup truck?

[–] wheezy@lemmy.ml 6 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (6 children)

You know what is roughly half the size of an American pickup truck and very common? A sedan. Like a regular sized car.

The annoying thing isn't using a common object to show scale. It's that they are cutting it in half. Like, you have other whole objects to choose from. It kind of ruins the point.

That's what frustrates me about the title at least.

[–] P00ptart@lemmy.world 2 points 4 weeks ago

That half giraffe really killed me.

[–] WoodScientist@lemmy.world 2 points 4 weeks ago

Why can't we just go back to reporting volumes in bushels, like God intended?

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[–] andrewta@lemmy.world 3 points 4 weeks ago

The problem is he’s Unfortunately, short, so he has a hard time on visualizing things like the size of pick up, which are quite large

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[–] PixeIOrange@lemmy.world 8 points 4 weeks ago

About 0.000000281 Saarländer

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 5 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

Half of the standard passenger vehicle around here.

[–] icelimit@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 weeks ago

It's about an average elevator in downtown cleveland

[–] WoodScientist@lemmy.world 3 points 4 weeks ago

And are we talking a reasonable work truck, or one of those American abominations referred to as 'pickup trucks.'

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 2 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

what rural Murica understands.

[–] TachyonTele@piefed.social 2 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

What does rural canada understand?

[–] No1@aussie.zone 2 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (1 children)
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