h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

What links the following in more ways than one?

Rod; Pole; Perch.

Who linked them together?
When?
What were they linked into?


Google and wiki forbidden..


GT

Well , the obvious is length, 22' I believe, yet chain is missing, which is the same measurement,

So my other link would be fishing.

Rods tend to be in different sections, a pole is a single piece rod, while a perch is both a fish, and the point where you fish from.

That should be , I guess?

MMF

emu

rod was perched on the roof trying to ajust the pole of his ariel, when he fell and ended up 6 foot under

The only interesting thing that I can add is the story of how Samuel Clements chose his pen-name of Mark Twain.

I think it revolved around the depth measurement method used on the paddle steamers. There was a rope with evenly spaced knots (probably a specific distance, but I now can't remember) and this rope would be let over the side of the boat. There would be a sailor that would keep hold of the rope and he would shout "Mark Twain" on every other knot, as two had gone through his hands.

I may have mis-remembered this story entirely, and I don't even know if its true. But it is the story as best as I remember.


Geggs

Nay, MMF - a chain is 22yards, not feet.
Hey, Taff - thou shalt not take the name of rod in vain (and I'm still on my perch, thank you).
geggs - hence the fathom... those knots/marks would have been fathoms - or parts thereof.

'Fathom it out' obviously suggests a nautical theme but I can't recall rod/pole/perch being used at sea.
Chain, however is/was used at sea.
Anyway, as i recall, pole & perch are related to but not the same as rod... they being areas (of one square rod?).
Aha. four rods, one chain, mumble chains (8?) one furlong...

Right!

MMF post 2.
22 feet is way out.
Fishing? Corect,it is a -5
Rods in different setions? Not this one -5
This perch is not a fish! -5


Taff post 3.
No!

geggs post 4.
Never heard that before. Have a shiny DGI +1


Rod post 5.

On your perch? You can't sit on my perch! Have a -5

Chain is 22 yards, correct +3
'Fathom' was just a cluelet, and has no bearing on the QI.
Pole and perch not the same as rod? Yes they are. Forgot to klaxon thay error!
4 rods (or poles or perch) equals one chain. Correct +3
So how many (mumble) chains in a furlong. What was the original meaning of 'furlong'?



GT

8 furlongs to a mile

an acre is the area of a rectangle whos length is a furlong and whos width is a chain

a cricket playing area between the stumps is a chain

Derivation of the word furlong: If people were going for a short walk, they'd say "It's only about an eighth of a mile, I won't be gone furlong"

Hi Taff!

Don't know how to tell you this..........

Here goes!!

8 furlongs to the mile, +3
Acre is a field 1 furlong by 1 chain, +3
Cricket pitch 1 chain between stumps, +3

Total of +9 there!!!

hygenic - Terrible joke!!!


GT

Furlong = long furrow, as in ploughing a (British Standard) field.

Pre decimalisation, running tracks were 440 yards around (2 furlongs). The idea was taken from the Roman tracks (Stadia) - which were measured in their own miles of course...

Rod!!

You have it in one.

The 'furlong' is a furrow length....+3

But what did it signify??


GT

Well, now lets see.

Long furrow, a furlong in length, 8 to the mile.

Acre: 4840 sqyds, furlong along, chain across -
Acre: what could be ploughed in one day - pretty small for a field, so
Field: = 1 furlong x 1 furlong? 10 acres? 10 days a-ploughing.

All of which brings us to the very brink of answering the question, doesn't it?

1 acre = 1 furlong x 1 chain

Correct +3

However, there is a special significance to the 'furlong'
What is it.

What is the significance of the 'rod'?

Who standardised the measurements of rod, pole and perch? (We already know that they are all the same!)

When were they standardised?



GT

To be fair, Taff @7 already got: 1 acre = 1 furlong x 1 chain

Furlong: The length of a Serf's (or villein's) allocation of land for his own use?

Thanx for correction Rod!

Not a Serfs allocation of land........

How can I put it?????

There is something of a legal bent to the furlong!


GT

How much of a head start you had to give a lawyer before riding them down with a lance/pack of Dogs?

Never give a lawyer a fighting chance... Cut him down in his sleep!

How far you could fling a lawyer from a standard siege catapult?

(thus, how far a lawyer had been Flung...)

What kind of standard siege catapult?

Yer average Trebuchet could fling a lawyer quite some distance, but may shake itself to bits in the process, as they're used for throwing weights of several tons. You'd have to pack quite a few lawyers in to make that weight up.

Before you ask, no I'm not helping you gather lawyers, I quite like the ones I work with.

I like lawyers, couldent eat a whole one though