kilohour n.

Her eyes were as wide and brown as his, but the lines on her face were deeper. The woman was several score kilohours older than Kafirr.

Stand on your head long enough—even if only in your imagination—and you get airsick. It took kilohours of practice to learn to compensate. Upside down was one of Stennie’s trademark ways of showing off.

Jhirad and Valmy had been on Hara for nearly two hundred kilohours—better than sixteen local years, four standard contracts—and in that time they had gotten a reputation as tough but honest.

‘Years?’ one of my first officers shouted at me. ‘I don’t give two shits about whatever your pisspot home’s sidereal shenanigans are, I want to know how old you are.’ Answer in hours. Answer in subjective hours: no officer cares if you’ve slowed any compared to your pisspot home. No one cares which of the countless year-lengths you grew up with. So, when I was about 170 kilohours old I left Embassytown. I returned when I was 266Kh, married, with savings, having learnt a few things.