other · Various · Modern / historical
Potrzebie belongs to Donald Knuth's satirical Potrzebie System of Weights and Measures, first published in MAD magazine in 1957.
reference-only Converter
other · Various · Modern
Sagan
informalreference-only
- Record
- M362
- Definition quality
- Informal / humorous indefinite quantity
- Conversion mode
- reference only
- Calculator
- Trivia/reference only
Do not force ≥4 billion as exact.
Definition
Jargon File: a large quantity of anything, inspired by 'billions and billions'.
Reference value
No rigorous fixed value
History & use
Jargon File: a large quantity of anything, inspired by 'billions and billions'.
Modern use
Used mainly as an informal, humorous, or illustrative reference rather than an official measurement standard.
Did you know?
Despite later jokes that try to assign it a number, the hacker Jargon File defines a sagan simply as 'a large quantity of anything'—a deliberately fuzzy tribute to Carl Sagan's cosmic-scale rhetoric.
Sources & evidence
Source tier Tier A — government / museum / authoritative institutional source · confidence High