Category: Humor

Exploring the Slug: An Unusual Imperial Unit of Mass | July 15 2025, 20:52

Have you ever heard of a unit of mass measurement called a slug? In the US, it does exist, even though it’s less common nowadays. American physics and engineering textbooks for students, especially where they want to clearly differentiate between mass (slug) and weight (lbf), tend to use the imperial system with its feet and the like. It simplifies F = ma in the imperial system without introducing extra coefficients.

1 slug is the mass that accelerates by 1 ft/s² under the force of 1 pound-force (lbf). Thus, a slug accelerating at 32.174 ft/s² “weighs” 32.174 pounds-force (lbf). 32.174 ft/s² is our 9.8 m/s², just in feet.

A “slug” is, on one hand, a slug (a slow-moving mollusk without a shell), and on the other hand, a heavy piece of metal or a bullet (like a shotgun slug – a large-caliber cartridge). In the context of the unit of mass, it’s not about mollusks, but rather about a “heavy lump.” But it’s still funny when they write “mass equals 5 slugs.”

12 slugs equal 1 blob (image of blob attached). Blob is a version of slug, but based on inches instead of feet. It has fun slang names – slinch, slugette, snail.

I also read about the British Thermal Unit — the amount of heat needed to heat 1 pound of water by 1°F. Converting BTUs to calories or joules results in a quite awkward number.

Alone Against the Ocean: A Tale of Feng Shui and Sargassum | June 26 2025, 19:26

On the shore, a lone woman was seen engaging in an unequal battle with the world ocean. Armed with a shovel, she heroically moved the sargassum two centimeters to the left, apparently to a place designated for them by feng shui. To the left and right to the horizon—nobody.

Cultural Codes: How T-Shirt Messages Connect Us Globally | June 19 2025, 16:13

I’ve long noticed that in the USA, people read the inscriptions on t-shirts and polos. When I lived in Russia, I remember, generally nobody pays attention to them. Or they do, and forget the next second. It’s normal for us to comment if we like something. I wonder what it’s like in Europe.

I have a t-shirt that says “2020 ★☆☆☆☆ Very bad. Would not recommend”. It’s already outdated, but I still regularly get comments on it.

In certain groups here, there’s a whole communication system based on what you wear. It seems among teenagers, it’s especially strict, and standing out isn’t welcomed, which is why many just dress like “carbon copies” — the same colors, the same brands 🙂 Well, obviously, students wear hoodies and t-shirts with their university’s symbols (I can hardly imagine putting my RGRTA on a t-shirt).

Unraveling the Layers of Echidna: From Faust to Mythology | June 13 2025, 04:21

In the second part of Faust, he encountered an echidna and realized that he did not understand

“Oh wonder! The clew turned into an egg,

The egg swelled up — what is within?

Two dreadful twins emerged —

A vampire with an echidna — from the egg.

The echidna writhes here crawling,

The vampire hovers under the ceiling”

It turned out that in the lexicon of the 18th-19th centuries, an echidna was a venomous snake. I mean, sarcastic, spiteful, sharp, cunning, mocking me, of course, I know this word, but that it literally signified a snake, I learned for the first time. And in Greek mythology, the half-woman half-snake Echidna was apparently the mother of Hydra, Sphinx, Chimera, and Cerberus

The Curious Case of Rollerblades vs. Inline Skates: A Brand Name’s Journey to Common Use | June 02 2025, 18:14

I step into Starbucks, and there’s a sign in the parking lot. Why rollerblades? After all, blade means ‘blade’? If it came down to it, rollerblades should be something like a circular saw. Started figuring it out. Turns out, roller skates were originally called inline skates, but then the commercial company Rollerblade appeared and eventually became a generic trademark, like Pampers, Xerox, marker pen, Thermos, Play-Doh, or escalator.

But actually, the term Inline Skates exists, and it means any skates, and the company Rollerblade still exists. Interesting, did it influence the fact that its name was on the sign?

And what about the Russian name “коньки”? Is it a diminutive of “horse”? Yes 🙂 According to one version, like little horses, they carry you across the ice: ancient skates were decorated with a horse’s head at the front. According to another version, the name comes from the fact that the first runners were usually made from animal bones, most often horses.

It seems you speak in Russian, and only when you contemplate do you realize that ‘horse’ and ‘skates’ are related words.