← Back to context

Comment by laxpri

14 hours ago

What does “inches” mean here

It's a medieval measurement, still in popular use. Nowadays it means approximately 2.54 centimeters. Historically, it's the height of the ash pile a "witch" would leave behind, and the word has morphed only slightly from "witches" into "inches."

  • Actually nowadays it means exactly 2.54 cm as that’s how it is defined. Which also means all distance measured in US Customary units is ultimately metric too