Inching forward

This morning, your host received an e-mail with a back-formation he hadn't heard before. Specifically, the message said:

"We'll be reviewing the inchstone transition plan."

Inchstone was new to SC, but it was immediately recognizable as a derivation from milestone. In the context of a series of small steps to be taken, it makes sense. Not having heard it before, your host wondered if there's evidence that it's catching on, or if it's just an obvious derivation that might have been independently coined by a variety of different people (including the individual quoted above). For the sake of completeness, we'll look at the whole spectrum of possible English-system length measurements:

inchstone: 965 hits
footstone: 108,000 hits -- but a preexisting word meaning "grave marker"
yardstone: 871 hits
furlongstone: 5 hits, with 3 unique ones
milestone: 29,000,000+ hits (some of which are just names)
leaguestone: 7 hits, 3 of which are genuine

At least anecdotally, it appears that the milestone derivatives are used in a very self-conscious fashion to indicate that the user is trying to calibrate the degree of what they're discussing. Some examples, with emphasis added by SC in all cases:

The recovery team will create detailed miniature milestones known as “inchstones.” (link)

"Resist overkill," Humphreys said. "If you can measure the status of a project at the milestone level, don't go to the 'yardstone' level. If you can do it at the 'yardstone' level, don't go to the 'footstone.'" (link)

And Easter Weekend siguals [sic] a milestone--leaguestone?--of sorts for Isenfir: The Shire will be old enough to drink. Not many of its constituent members, but the Shire. (link)

Small milestone? Not a very elegant or satisfying description. It seems like there should be another term - a furlongstone, or its equivalent - for the marking of this small unit of progress. (link)

Although the metaphor of calibration along a scale is the same, metric uses appear to be more uniformly ironic:

[Blog Post Title] Another Milestone Reached...well, this is more like a centimeterstone. (link)

[Blog Post Title: Meterstone] I'd call it a mile stone, but it is closer to 1000 which is more the metric thing. (link)

today is the thirteen month mark for my boyfriend and i...
its not usually considered a huge milestone (if i'm canadian shouldn't it be kilometerstone?) (link)

There are actually 479 hits for kilometerstone (versus just the one above for centimeterstone, and less than 100 for meterstone). Perhaps this is due to the fact that kilometers are the closest metric unit of measure to a mile, or perhaps there's merely some principle of self-restraint where one pun in a novel coinage is enough. Inches or centimeters, many of these groaners are just begging to be...stoned.

Comments

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[thenorthface2012]

era of make-up cosmetic, but there is no "Gold", a rare Buddha also their dignity. Like me living in the sports circle, working in the fashion circle, surrounded by all the entertainment