Betty White as a Unit of Measurement

400 Betty Whites ago, there were still living Neanderthals.

Between 300 and 130 Betty Whites ago, the first humans reached North America.

100 Betty Whites ago, the last mammoths roamed the Earth.

7 Betty Whites ago, the Aztec Empire rose, only to fall 2.2 Bettys later.

— Yell in a War (@jelenawoehr) December 20, 2021

On January 17 of next year, Betty White will turn 100 years old.

I was about to write "actress Betty White", but that seems like a wholly inadequate description. Betty White is not just an actress. It is best put that Betty White is Betty White in all fullness of the term; a Platonic ideal of Betty Whiteness.

As the world prepares to celebrate, writer Jelena Woehr would like to propose using Betty White as a unit of measurement. Specifically, a Betty White is a unit of time--a lifespan of incredible magnitude. A very long-lived person expresses that events that felt a long time ago were, from a different perspective, very recent. Read Woehr's thread here.

-via Kottke