h a l f b a k e r yContrary to popular belief
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"Alpha Centauri is about 2.0 M ☉" – or twice that of the Sun. |
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Like I said, Solaton is intuitive and doesn't require the dumb symbol. And case in point, I can easily write it on this platform without getting "☉". |
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But I guess if we're going back to symbols instead of words, here's the word aardvark in symbol form: |
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-------_.---._- - /\\
----./'......."--`\//
----./............o \
-/./\ )______ \__ \
./ / /\ \ ..... | \ \ \ \
---/ / \ \ .....| |\ \ \7
----" " " " |
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LOL, well that was shite. We'll call it a Picasso aardvark. |
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"the weight of our sun is one solama" |
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Isn't this kind of naming thing named by name in the help page? |
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Solama could work but you'd still have to look it up. I think you could try out saying a star twice the weight of the sun was "Two solatons" and people would get it. |
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I dunno, I think it's okay. Here's the help link on names. |
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"naming - specific names to give to people, pets, restaurants, top level domains, etc. are out of scope for the halfbakery. Whole naming schemes, tools to help with naming or exchange names, and specific names accompanying actual inventions are okay." |
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How about "solar equivalent" |
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I like solaton. Shorter. I'd rank them thusly: |
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1- Alpha Centauri is two solatons. |
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2- Alpha Centauri is two solar equivalents. (Eh, not bad) |
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3- Alpha Centauri is two solar massesseses. (Huh? Horrible) |
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4-Alpha Centauri is 2.0 M o <--. (beyond horrible) |
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The "ton" confers weight immediately I think. The formula which basically reads "2.xlkj paradoddles to the zameran divided by the cranjumubble thanomoran" will never be read by any human being beyond them saying "Okay, some stupid formula I don't care about." |
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Soma? Could work but already been used for something really different. |
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// soma ... already used for something different // |
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So has Solaton*. Trademarked product. |
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*Or Soraton. Link spells it Soraton, product blurbs spells it Solaton. Not intuitive at all. |
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Not to you, but if anybody else hears "That star weighs 2.5 solatons." they'll figure it out, just like they wouldn't say "Alpha Centauri weights 2.5 dropped ceiling tile manufacturers?" |
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Other trademark products that would confuse you and nobody else: |
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Target,
Apple,
Amazon,
Delta,
Tesla,
Mars,
Visa,
Twitter... |
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We use this thing called context, but hey, it's a reading comprehension thing, not something you're particularly interested in so don't worry about it. |
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Anyway you've hit your standard, 2 bones, 3 links and 3 annos, time to move on. |
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I guess it was overly optimistic of me to hope the holiday spirit would last. Anyhow, you have a different idea of what's intuitive or widely understood. |
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"Solar Mass" has been used and understood since at least 1941 (according to Webster Dictionary online). The dot in a circle symbol for the Sun has been used since the Bronze Age. Coining a new word to replace an established term and symbol will be a hard sell. |
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Almost but not completely unrelated - what do you call a single piece of hay? I needed a word for it yesterday and couldn't find a definitive answer. Each alternative I found had the potential to be misunderstood. |
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Yes, that' was my first thought also. But according to multiple sources, straw and hay have different compositions, appearances, and uses. Straw is made of grain stalks, while hay is made of dried grass or legumes. |
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I think we need a new word, and maybe a dumb symbol, for individual bits of hay. |
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A single piece of hay is called a straw. |
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//Straw is made of grain stalks, while hay is made of dried grass// |
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And of course grain is a kind of grass. |
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I tried to look up a technical definition of hay and all I found was lists of different materials with different folkloristic preferences: bulrush, rush, coarse sedge, wild iris, sedge grass, 'first grass' hay, 'coarse grass' or 'sprat', sand rush, coarse hay, and bent. |
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My guess would be that the word "straw" may have double duty, as a collective word for dried grain stalks, and as a singular word for a long thin lightweight tubular stick whether made from straw, grass, plastic or paper. |
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If you want to be super specific just say "a single piece of hay". There doesn't have to be a single unambiguous word for every possible concept, and if there were then they would not last long because concepts drift and diverge as people use them. Circumloctions rule! |
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Actually Poc, looking at it the next day I gotta say, if it's about being pragmatic and getting the point across with the minimum confusion, "solar equivalents" is gonna be 100% understood without that stupid bronze age symbol, (which god knows, I lost count of how many times I refer to bronze age symbols on any given day) |
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"The mass of Alpha Centauri is two solar equavalents." does get 100% of the people understanding it. Could apply it to stuff like brightness, density, circumference etc as well. |
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So although "solaton" might have more panache, I'm putting yours at the top if it's about getting a point across. |
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Now I'll go curl up in the fetal position and have a good cry. |
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