I thought I knew what the phrase in a jiffy meant until I got it wrong on a trivia quiz that a friend sent to me (the correct answer was 0.2 seconds).
Though the origin of the term jiffy is unknown,it is thought to have first been used in England during the 1700's and referred to a brief but indeterminate time. In some contexts it is used as a put off,maybe now,maybe never,but wait,there's more!
In scientific applications it can refer to any of several specific time spans. The most common is 0.01 second. In computer engineering the length of time between a clock cycle is sometimes called a jiffy,in a computer with a 2-gigahertz microprocessor the jiffy is 0.5 nanosecond.
The length of time required for one alternating current (AC) power cycle is called a jiffy,in the US this is 1/60 second,in other countries 1/50 second. Confused yet? A jiffy can also be 0.001 second. A jiffy corresponds to the length of time required for a beam of light to travel one foot in free space,approximately 1 nanosecond.
Just in case you aren't thoroughly confused it is also the name of cake and muffins mixes,not to mention Jiffy Lube (a car service center) and if we want to include nicknames there is always Jif peanut butter!
I don't know about everyone else,but I am going to think twice before I say "in a jiffy"again.
Though the origin of the term jiffy is unknown,it is thought to have first been used in England during the 1700's and referred to a brief but indeterminate time. In some contexts it is used as a put off,maybe now,maybe never,but wait,there's more!
In scientific applications it can refer to any of several specific time spans. The most common is 0.01 second. In computer engineering the length of time between a clock cycle is sometimes called a jiffy,in a computer with a 2-gigahertz microprocessor the jiffy is 0.5 nanosecond.
The length of time required for one alternating current (AC) power cycle is called a jiffy,in the US this is 1/60 second,in other countries 1/50 second. Confused yet? A jiffy can also be 0.001 second. A jiffy corresponds to the length of time required for a beam of light to travel one foot in free space,approximately 1 nanosecond.
Just in case you aren't thoroughly confused it is also the name of cake and muffins mixes,not to mention Jiffy Lube (a car service center) and if we want to include nicknames there is always Jif peanut butter!
I don't know about everyone else,but I am going to think twice before I say "in a jiffy"again.
No comments:
Post a Comment