| Chapter 14: Units |

| 14.15. Making the verb "to weigh"

We have already created new verbs: for instance, in the previous chapter we set up a verb "to love", which was such that we could say "A loves B" for people A and B. Suppose we want a verb "to weigh", in the sense of "the lead pig weighs 45kg". This is not like "to love", because it relates something tangible (the lead pig) to something intangible (45kg). So its creation looks a little different:

> The verb to weigh (it weighs, they weigh, it is weighing) implies the weight property.

Our previous verb definitions ended "implies the ... relation", rather than "implies the ... property", but otherwise the idea is the same. The effect is that we can say things like:

> A thing usually weighs 1kg. The lead pig weighs 45kg.
> something weighing 20kg
> if three things weigh 5kg, ...

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| Example Dimensions This example draws together the previous snippets into a working implementation of the weighbridge.

206
| Example Lead Cuts Paper To give every container a breaking strain, that is, a maximum weight of contents which it can bear - so that to put the lead pig into a paper bag invites disaster.

The following uses a few features which will not be explained until later chapters, but it shows the kind of "realism" rules which could be introduced using weights. Not entirely realistic: we do not bother to rupture containers out of the player's sight. "Lead Cuts Paper" A weight is a kind of value. 10kg specifies a weight. Everything has a weight. A thing usually has weight 1kg. A container has a weight called breaking strain. The breaking strain of a container is usually 50kg. Definition: A container is bursting if the total weight of things in it is greater than its breaking strain. A lead pig, a feather, a silver coin and a paper bag are in a room called the Metallurgy Workshop. The paper bag is a container with breaking strain 2kg. The lead pig has weight 50kg. Every turn when a container (called the sack) held by someone visible (called the chump) is bursting: say "[The sack] splits and breaks under the weight! [if the player is the chump]You discard[otherwise][The chump] discards[end if] its ruined remains, looking miserably down at [the list of things in the sack] on the floor."; now all of the things in the sack are in the location; remove the sack from play. Test me with "get bag / get feather / put feather in bag / get pig / put pig in bag / look".

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