• @LovableSidekick@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    I’ve always loved the “lengths of wire” line. As a kid I used to check out lots of outdated library books about building a home science lab, and they consistently called a short piece of wire a “length” of wire. I don’t think I ever saw that term in any other context until Futurama, so it really brought back my nerdy roots.

    • @Couldbealeotard@lemmy.world
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      86 days ago

      I think a length of wire is more about being a vague measurement and to distinguish it from a wire coil, which is a separately useful thing in electronics.

      Calling things a length isn’t indicative of being short. Terms like a length of rope and length of wire are fairly normal ways to talk about things without a strict measurement.