Clicks and blocks

[kevinh]

In American war films they always refer to distance in 'Clicks' hor far is a clicks and why is it so called. Also in American TV they measure distance in 'Blocks' How far is one of those.

[BenDToy]

LeMarchand sounds right but I can't see US soldiers talking or thinking in kilometres.

[KEJ2000]

I have heard of "clicks" but I can't quite give a good explanation. On the other hand, I can explain "block"! It isn't a technical unit of measurement. A block is just the land in-between two parallel streets. So, for example, if you were in New York City and you walked from 41st Street to 43rd Street, you would have walked two blocks. The term has relevance only in cities and suburban neighbourhoods where there are streets. If you were out walking in the country, though, you couldn't use the term "blocks".

[LeMarchand]

a click is a Kilometre, and saying '3 blocks away' is similar to saying '3 streets away'. U.S. cities tend to be laid out in a grid, with blocks of buildings seperated by streets.

Anyway, re U.S. military slang, apparently few people outside the forces in the U.S. would understand "1430" hours, as they call the 24 hour clock "military time". Maybe they use European measurements in the forces there?

[Janetex]

yes clicks are kilometres, but it does seem odd that it's used by americans.

[Pinotage]

Since the US defence policy is based on protecting iUS interests by fighting on other people's territory perhaps the military felt it worthwhile to use the measurements used elsewhere in the world. The 24 hour clock avoids confusion (and makes more sense) and the military also don't use the crazy American MM/DD/YY date format.