>In issue 33, Mad published a partial table of the "Potrzebie System of Weights and Measures", developed by 19-year-old Donald E. Knuth, later a famed computer scientist. According to Knuth, the basis of this new revolutionary system is the potrzebie, which equals the thickness of Mad issue 26

also the Google calculator example:

https://www.google.com/search?q=3+potrzebie+%2F+2+ngogn

For curious, about the actual usage of `potrzebie` in polish:

potrzeba is a neutral form of a noun, meaning `a need.

`potrzebie` is a inflected form, dativus i guess.

example of usage: `trzeba pomagać ludziom w potrzebie' ~> `one needs to help people in need`

Wouldn't your usage be miejscownik/locative?

it is.

[w kim?/w czym? w potrzebie] is locutive.

[komu?/czemu? tej potrzebie] would be dative.

I like this one more than our modern equivalent: `covfefe`

I swear, yesterday I googled about unusual measurement units, didn't pay much attention to this (I enjoyed much more the sheppey or the furlong-firkin-fortnigh systrm) but due to the https://www.damninteresting.com/the-baader-meinhof-phenomeno... here it is again catching my attention...

I am very thankful for a resource like Wikipedia which is a natural home for noting these quirks of culture.

Here's a partial table of the system https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.humor/Emh_2wOsDt...

-... -.-- .--. .-. --- .... .. .- ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Btfsplk (No comment on Knuth intended!)

I must be missing something. How would this relate to Knuth?

I guess it's more about the unpronounceable (in English) consonant cluster, somewhat like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prlwytzkofsky