“an interesting linguistics find! so I’m reading this text from 1908 and it keeps referencing ‘hp’ in the context of ‘not being at full hp’ ‘applying your full hp to a task’ etc.” But it’s not hit/health points…
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At almost 60, am I getting old that I first assumed it meant what it did indeed mean? Am I linguistically closer to 1908 than 2026?
Funny you say that Martin: I am 62, and I had exactly the same reaction - I though 'horsepower' before reading the post. The twist is that I am not a native English speaker, so this seems to transcend cultures and languages...
I immediately thought "hit points" or "health points" because of childhood DnD playing, video games, and having kids who have played video games and Pokemon and Magic the Gathering or whatever other games use HP in that way. (It would be cool to make a tabletop or video game that uses HP as in "horsepower" and "hit/health points" at the same time...maybe a demolition derby game or something? Or Mortal Kombat but with centaurs? 😂)
Requisite 'in German'... they use ps, which ofc relates to Pferdestärke, Pferde literarily being horses 🐎and Stärke being strength 💪
57 and I immediately assumed horsepower. But I was the only one in the nerd group in middle school and an high school who couldn't be bothered with D&D so maybe that's why?
I am a shriveled husk
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