explain and inform

A friend points me to this headline on an AP report:

At worst, oil spewed already could fill 102 gyms

That's brilliant, isn't it? It really helps me understand the vastness of the disaster. Now all I have to do is think about a gym (though it's been a while since I've seen one, to be honest) and then multiply it, visually, by 102. Simple. I'm surprised they didn't do football stadiums, that would have been really helpful too. In fact here are some alternative suggestions:

At worst, oil spewed already could fill 1542 swimming pools.

At worst, oil spewed already could fill 674 saunas.

At worst, oil spewed already could fill 23 White Houses.

But no. "102 gyms" is just perfect.

Comments

[Z]

A truly bizarre statistic...how did they even come up with a standard size for a gym? It seems to me there can be a lot of variation.

[ashcash]

102 is perfect. big enuf as it is 3 digits but not so vast that it creates an imprecision in the mind. great - thanks.

1, 0 & 2 psychologically are very significant numbers.

hey - I am not a zero.
I love to be no. 1.....but realistically 2 will do (too). so there.

[TR]

I loved this article on the very subject:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/mind-your-language/2010/may/17/mind-your-language-david-marsh