Really needs an audience
June 15, 2025 11:40 AM Subscribe
The phrase "can you hear the world's smallest violin playing just for you?" is thought to have first appeared on an episode of TV show M*A*S*H in 1978, and usually mocks overly dramatic complaints. The violin is a microscopic image rather than a playable instrument and has not been officially confirmed as the world's smallest violin, the university said. from Scientists create 'world's smallest violin' [BBC]
There’s a tiny smeary spot in that image that I think might be the violin.
posted by Well I never at 12:05 PM on June 15 [1 favorite]
posted by Well I never at 12:05 PM on June 15 [1 favorite]
this feels deliberately engineered to punch me right in the US based research job
posted by crime online at 12:09 PM on June 15 [1 favorite]
posted by crime online at 12:09 PM on June 15 [1 favorite]
Dear science journalists: stop using the word "micron". It's a micrometer. No one uses micron anymore. Everyone can figure out what a micrometer is.
Also, stop comparing everything to the size of a human hair. The thickness of a human hair varies tremendously from person to person, and even just the area of the body it grows on. Why even specify "human"? There are plenty of small objects that you can use instead. Or you could compare small things to modern transistor gates, which would make a micrometer seem huge.
Don't like my criticisms? Well, give me a minute to find an instrument to play the world's saddest song on just for you
posted by phooky at 12:22 PM on June 15 [6 favorites]
Also, stop comparing everything to the size of a human hair. The thickness of a human hair varies tremendously from person to person, and even just the area of the body it grows on. Why even specify "human"? There are plenty of small objects that you can use instead. Or you could compare small things to modern transistor gates, which would make a micrometer seem huge.
Don't like my criticisms? Well, give me a minute to find an instrument to play the world's saddest song on just for you
posted by phooky at 12:22 PM on June 15 [6 favorites]
Dear science journalists: stop using the word "micron". It's a micrometer. No one uses micron anymore.
At my workplace (a NASA center), I don't think I've ever heard anyone say "micrometer." I've heard "micron" when people are talking lots and lots of times.
posted by tclark at 1:24 PM on June 15 [3 favorites]
At my workplace (a NASA center), I don't think I've ever heard anyone say "micrometer." I've heard "micron" when people are talking lots and lots of times.
posted by tclark at 1:24 PM on June 15 [3 favorites]
(I stand corrected, although I'd still argue matching the verbiage internally at NASA isn't what public facing science journalists need to be working on!)
posted by phooky at 1:47 PM on June 15 [1 favorite]
posted by phooky at 1:47 PM on June 15 [1 favorite]
I'd still argue matching the verbiage internally at NASA isn't what public facing science journalists need to be working on!
That's probably true. As for my workplace, micron may be in much more common usage among the primarily-engineering demographic than the primarily-scientist demographic.
posted by tclark at 2:02 PM on June 15 [1 favorite]
That's probably true. As for my workplace, micron may be in much more common usage among the primarily-engineering demographic than the primarily-scientist demographic.
posted by tclark at 2:02 PM on June 15 [1 favorite]
Shoutout to the AJR reference in the post title.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 3:14 PM on June 15 [1 favorite]
posted by Horace Rumpole at 3:14 PM on June 15 [1 favorite]
the phrase is much older than mash - i used to hear it when i was a kid
posted by pyramid termite at 3:29 PM on June 15 [1 favorite]
posted by pyramid termite at 3:29 PM on June 15 [1 favorite]
Definitely the world's smallest metaphor.
And we all know about the world's largest.
posted by PlusDistance at 5:55 PM on June 15
And we all know about the world's largest.
posted by PlusDistance at 5:55 PM on June 15
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posted by Glinn at 12:00 PM on June 15 [1 favorite]