Colloquial Names

In addition to systematic quantitel names, Primel proposes "colloquial" names, or "nicknames", for some of the coherent units, as well as for some useful multiples and dozenal powers of the coherent units. Some of these proposed nicknames will be purely fanciful. For instance:

• Because the ⚀timel is rather short and fleeting, Primel proposes the colloquial name ⚀vibe·time for this. 
• Because the ⚀unqua·timel is about the time to blink an eye, Primel proposes nicknaming this the ⚀twinkling·time. 
• Because the ⚀lengthel is about the size of a bit of food pinched between thumb and forefinger, Primel proposes nicknaming it the ⚀morsel·length.

But in many cases a nickname will be proposed because a unit closely approximates a customary or SI unit. For instance:

• Because the ⚀trina·lengthel approximates the customary inch (which in other languages is called a "thumb", e.g. Latin pollex), Primel proposes to nickname this the ⚀thumb·length (or ⚀pollical·length). 
• Because the ⚀unqua·lengthel approximates the customary "hand" measure, Primel proposes to nickname this the ⚀hand·length (or ⚀manual·length).
• Because the ⚀trina·unqua·lengthel approximates the customary foot, Primel proposes to nickname this the ⚀foot·length (or ⚀podial·length).
• And so forth.

Primel colloquial names often follow a pattern that concatenates the thematic "prime" prefix, plus a "colloquial" adjective (often of Classical origin ending in -al or -ar), plus the plain English word for the physical quantity being measured. For instance:

• The colloquial adjective hand·, concatenated with the physical quantity length, yields the colloquial name ⚀hand·length for the ⚀unqua·lengthel.

Primel leverages this pattern to name related units for derivative physical quantities, by reusing these colloquial adjectives with different physical quantity names. For instance:

• The ⚀biqua·areanel, an area of one square ⚀hand·length, is nicknamed a ⚀hand·area.
• The ⚀triqua·volumel, a volume of one cubic ⚀hand·length, is nicknamed the ⚀hand·volume.
• The ⚀triqua·massel, a mass of one ⚀hand-volume of water, is nicknamed the ⚀hand·mass.
• The ⚀triqua·forcel or ⚀triqua·weightel, the force or weight of one ⚀hand·mass in Earth's gravity, is nicknamed a ⚀hand·force or ⚀hand·weight.
• The ⚀quadqua·energel or ⚀quadqua·workel or ⚀quadqua·heatel, the energy or work or heat needed to lift a ⚀hand·mass by one ⚀hand·length against Earth's gravity, or to heat a ⚀hand·mass of water by one ⚀hand·temperature, is nicknamed a ⚀hand·energy or ⚀hand·work or ⚀hand·heat.
• The ⚀unqua·temperaturel, the temperature change imparted to a ⚀hand·mass of water by one ⚀hand·heat, is nickenamed a ⚀hand·temperature.
• The ⚀unqua·timel, the time to traverse one ⚀hand·length at one ⚀velocitel, is nicknamed the ⚀hand·time.
• The ⚀triqua·powerel, a rate of power which applies one ⚀hand·energy per each ⚀hand·time, is nicknamed a ⚀hand·power.
• The ⚀unqua·pressurel, a pressure which applies one ⚀hand·weight per each ⚀hand·area, is nicknamed a ⚀hand·pressure.
• And so forth.

Primel's length units have a robust set of colloquial names running up and down the magnitude scale, from the microscopic to the macroscopic, associating these lengths with certain objects that exist at those scales. Because of this, and because of the above naming pattern, Primel can construct colloquial names for many derivative units at all these scales.

See Also:

• Colloquial Unit Series