Full Fathom Five
I am, as you may or may not know, an English language geek. So you get my random English trivia for the day - you can even play along at home!
Okay, you know how the word "fathom" can mean either six feet, or to understand or grasp something? (As in "I can't fathom why you don't like chocolate.") Here's a handy demonstration to connect the two definitions!
First, I want to to stretch your arms straight out to either side. Go on, the cat won't mind. The word 'fathom' originally referred to the distance from fingertip to fingertip. Now look from your left fingertip to your right fingertip - about six feet, right? (It eventually got standardized.) Keep those arms up.
You might more easily be able to understand something that you could wrap your arms around. Now bring your arms around in front of you, so that you're making a circle with your arms, fingertips touching. So if you can fathom something, you can wrap your arms around it.
Neat, right?
Okay, you know how the word "fathom" can mean either six feet, or to understand or grasp something? (As in "I can't fathom why you don't like chocolate.") Here's a handy demonstration to connect the two definitions!
First, I want to to stretch your arms straight out to either side. Go on, the cat won't mind. The word 'fathom' originally referred to the distance from fingertip to fingertip. Now look from your left fingertip to your right fingertip - about six feet, right? (It eventually got standardized.) Keep those arms up.
You might more easily be able to understand something that you could wrap your arms around. Now bring your arms around in front of you, so that you're making a circle with your arms, fingertips touching. So if you can fathom something, you can wrap your arms around it.
Neat, right?