mil-li-ki-lo
/ˈmiləˌkēlō/
noun: millikilo; plural noun: millikilos
The millikilo (mk) is an SI derived
unit that is equal to exactly 1/1000 of a kilo (k).
The role of millikilos used to be filled by grams/grammes (g) but the absurdity of having the base
unit of mass have a prefix couldn't be ignored by the metric world. In a stroke of
genius, the base
unit in question, the kilogram/kilogram (kg), was replaced with the colloquial "kilo" which was already widely used in places around the world, most noticeably in Europe. All the prefixes shifted upwards to create units such as nanokilos (nk), microkilos (µk), millikilos (mk), kilokilos (kk), and megakilos (Mk) to replace the outdated ones. Of these, the most prominent is the millikilo due to its prevalence in
day-to-
day life and more symbolically as it is the
unit to replace the old false base unit of grams/grammes.
"
Stanley was just telling me about this new unit called the millikilo that he's started using instead of grams. I swear that guy is such a
hipster!"
"Mom, can you buy me a twix bar? It's 78 millikilos and it's only $0.99 right now! It's such a good deal in terms of cost to millikilos!"
*In the future*
"Wow, the guy who invented the millikilo must be sitting
pretty right now with all the royalty checks he must get."
