• Rooskie91@discuss.online
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      8 months ago

      It’s a reference to a horror book that starts with a protagonist discovering his house is slightly bigger on the inside. Spooky hijinks ensue, and somewhere along the way you loose your mind reading that book.

      10/10 would recommend.

    • frezik@midwest.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      7 months ago

      I don’t know anything about the book in question, but I assumed it was because of the way the hook at the end of tape measures has a little play to it. If it’s a poorly made tape measure that doesn’t account for this properly, you get slightly different measurements by hooking around something versus pushing it against a surface.

      (See point #5: https://www.ustape.com/hidden-features-of-measuring-tape/)

        • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          7 months ago

          Oh right, fractions of an inch are usually expressed in fractions of powers of two. SI humour went right over my head because I’m used to seeing weird fractions involved in those measurements.

          • Peppycito@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            7 months ago

            Feet are divided by 12 but inches are divided by 8. And a yard is a foot times 3.

            It makes way more sense when you use it, but trying to explain it does make it sound crazy.

            • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              7 months ago

              I thought it was powers of two because it’s not hard to find the halfway point between two other points, so you find the 1/2 mark, then the 1/4 mark, then 1/8, 16, 32, depending on how much precision you need. Then, at some point the unit changes again to mils or something like that.

              After doing some digging in to this, I was thinking of the thou or mil, which is a thousandth of an inch. There’s also another one that I hadn’t heard of: the line, which is apparently equal to… 1/12 of an inch. Lol full circle.

        • frezik@midwest.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          7 months ago

          If it’s a poorly made tape measure to begin with, doesn’t really matter. Could easily end up with 1/12" off.