2014-04-26 10:52:28 -04:00
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smoot
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2014-04-26 11:54:15 -04:00
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/smoot/ , n. [MIT] A unit of length equal five feet seven inches. The length
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of the Harvard Bridge in Boston is famously 364.4 smoots plus an ear (the
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ear is allegedly the width of the earhole in the side of the football helmet
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the victim was wearing when he was rolled over the bridge). This legend
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began with a fraternity prank in 1958 during which the body length of Oliver
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Smoot (class of '62) was actually used to measure out that distance. It is
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commemorated by smoot marks that MIT students repaint every few years; the
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tradition even survived the demolition and rebuilding of the bridge in the
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late 1980s. The Boston police have been known to use smoot markers to
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indicate accident locations on the bridge. Apparently Smoot's experience as
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a unit of measurement led to a life-long career; he eventually became
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Chairman of the Board of the American National Standards Institute, and
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later President of the International Organization for Standardization.
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