![]() 01/07/2014 at 20:24 • Filed to: None | ![]() | ![]() |
Why is an odometer and "odo" meter? It doesn't measure "odo's". A speedometer measures SPEED. Damn thing should be called a mileometer.
![]() 01/07/2014 at 20:27 |
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1791, from French odomčtre (1724), from Greek hodos "way" + - meter . First recorded in writings of Thomas Jefferson. ( etymonline )
![]() 01/07/2014 at 20:28 |
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Odo- is Greek for path. Why do we call a speedometer that when it doesn't measure speedo?
![]() 01/07/2014 at 20:28 |
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An odometer technically just measures the distance traveled.
![]() 01/07/2014 at 20:30 |
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Also, we can't call it a mileometer - or even milometer - because in Metric countries they'd have to call it a kilometreometer.
![]() 01/07/2014 at 20:30 |
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![]() 01/07/2014 at 20:39 |
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In metric countries it would be a kilometermeter.
![]() 01/07/2014 at 20:46 |
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![]() 01/07/2014 at 20:53 |
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came here to say this...
![]() 01/09/2014 at 11:20 |
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I will now start calling odometers this.
![]() 01/10/2014 at 04:14 |
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Blame it on the ancient greeks:
An odometer or odograph [1] [2] is an instrument that indicates distance traveled by a vehicle, such as a bicycle or automobile. The device may be electronic, mechanical, or a combination of the two. The word derives from the Greek words hodós ("path" or "gateway") and métron ("measure").
Even the Romans used mechanical devices to measure overal distance.