units

[atgongumerki]

Pretend you were crazy, thus you are ready to actually put work into your story.

Would you be able to convey units without referencing real-world ones?

For example, you want to convey that something has a certain weight (about a kilogram or two pounds, maybe?).
The catch is you can only use units you made up yourself: Lerd or Gul or something!

 

[BenJepheneT]

It weighed as heavy as a boulder.

It looked to occupy the same mass as a giant log.

The energy he needed to lift the thing was about the same as holding two younglings on both arms.

Magic of comparison.

 

[HURGMCGURG]

Made up units can be dumb. If you use them, use easy to remember names, not something like Lerd or Gul. A good example would be Delve, which used a unit called Stride to measure distance, which is a little less than a yard.

 

[DubstheDuke]

My structural analysis professor once said:

"What are the units?"

Student: Negative.

Professor: "UNITS, GENIUS!!!!"

 

[BenJepheneT]

You know when you read dystopic young adult fiction where sexy teens have to overcome the oppressive government and the military/police force they fight is always called things like "Peacekeepers" or "Oppressors" or "Servisoldiers" or whatever and it makes you just so fucking tired like "just call them cops/soldiers it's okay baby this is a safe space just use the word".

Anyway.

dude what if we apply that logic to fantasy world and make shit up like "alright this fish here is 3 dwarf feet" or "it's gonna cost you a Mermaid's Tail's worth of silk for that"

 

[Reddles]

This reminds me of the scene in every Japanese Isekai where they explain what copper, silver, and gold coins are, and then talk about the conversion to yen. And of course it usually never really matters anyway...

Seriously though, I'd be careful making up your own units. It might seem like you're making your story better by doing more world building, but if the names sound silly or the conversion is difficult or you have to spend time explaining them then it will pull the reader out of the story. Your characters are presumably already speaking English, so it's not weird for them to just use standard units.

 

[BenJepheneT]

I'm already dying inside.

same wanna make a suicide pact

 

[atgongumerki]

It weighed as heavy as a boulder.

It looked to occupy the same mass as a giant log.

The energy he needed to lift the thing was about the same as holding two younglings on both arms.

Magic of comparison.

I just realized that comparing stuff is basically the same as using units.

unit 1: boulder (for weight)
unit2: log (for volume)
unit3: younglingholding (for energy)

My problem is that I don't want to explain to the reader what they mean every time they are used.

Maybe it is not important for the reader to know if 'log' was volume or weight?!

I just got an idea, thank you.

 

[BenJepheneT]

I just realized that comparing stuff is basically the same as using units.

unit 1: boulder (for weight)
unit2: log (for volume)
unit3: younglingholding (for energy)

My problem is that I don't want to explain to the reader what they mean every time they are used.

Maybe it is not important for the reader to know if 'log' was volume or weight?!

I just got an idea, thank you.

You could just make do and say the thing is heavy. That is unless you want to go specific, then sure, go ahead.

 

[Goswick]

I mean, personally, I'd just use a fantasy unit then use a footnote to clarify how big it is in feet/metres/whatever. Typically though, I think BenJepheneT's answer of just comparing to other similarly weighted objects would probably be the best way of doing it.

 

[MajorKerina]

I have a bee race in one of my stories and am considering flower petals of a certain species as a standard measure, also trying to have the geek bee wield a standard distance for flight, like how bees in hives do dances to show how far something is. Bees must have a metric of judging distance.

 

[AliceShiki]

I don't see any point in making new measurement units, it will just confuse the reader.

I trust their suspension of disbelief to understand that one minute is still one minute.

If I HAVE to use a different time unit, I use church bells. When the bell rings, it means the sun has moved to a given position on the sky.