To: Frumious Bandersnatch
The fathom was the distance fingertip-to-fingertip of a (Viking) man with his arms outstretched.
26 posted on
07/05/2005 8:48:29 AM PDT by
SunkenCiv
(last updated by FR profile on Tuesday, May 10, 2005.)
To: SunkenCiv
The fathom was the distance fingertip-to-fingertip of a (Viking) man with his arms outstretched. That makes perfect sense. A length of rope could be measured easily that way, while trying to compare it to height would be cumbersome.
33 posted on
07/05/2005 9:18:41 AM PDT by
RightWhale
(withdraw from the 1967 UN Outer Space Treaty)
To: SunkenCiv
Generally, the height of a man is equal (or pretty darn close) to the length of his outstretched arms.
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