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Post by The Urban Mythbuster on May 28, 2013 15:11:41 GMT
This is used to infer that something is close by.
I've heard people use this expression to refer to a distance as close as across the street, but also as far as a couple miles away.
But, how far can you really throw a stone?
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Post by the light works on May 28, 2013 16:10:53 GMT
I think we need to establish a standard to give a definite answer of this. whenever we put "you" into the mix, it multiplies the variables.
the furthest an object has been recorded to have been hand thrown is 1333 feet (an Aerobie flying ring)
searching on stone mainly turned up stone skipping.
in scotland and ireland, throwing the stone is an official event, and the record for that is 30 feet, 4 and 3/4 inches (with a 22 pound stone)
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Post by The Urban Mythbuster on May 28, 2013 16:18:09 GMT
Another options would be, do we find different classes of participants to throw stones (i.e., javelin throwers, baseball pitchers, strongmen, etc)?
I would hate to rush into "overdo it" mode and just let have Grant build a robot.
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Post by the light works on May 28, 2013 16:24:05 GMT
Another options would be, do we find different classes of participants to throw stones (i.e., javelin throwers, baseball pitchers, strongmen, etc)? I would hate to rush into "overdo it" mode and just let have Grant build a robot. but you know it is ultimately going to come to that. shall we have someone who is better at physics do the math on the maximum possible throw, on earth, using an indestructable machine, accelerating a diamond (world's hardest stone) on a three foot diameter throwing arm? |
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Post by the light works on May 28, 2013 16:36:36 GMT
If you ever want a truly humbling experience, go to a large dam (where it will be allowed) and try to throw a an object so it lands in the water below. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_Dammy best throw didn't even make it halfway before it hit the spillway. |
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Post by c64 on May 28, 2013 22:34:28 GMT
If you ever want a truly humbling experience, go to a large dam (where it will be allowed) and try to throw a an object so it lands in the water below. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_Dammy best throw didn't even make it halfway before it hit the spillway. A stonethrow used to be an Olympic sport in 1906. It's still part of the "Germanic Quinthlon", still practised in some areas, especially in southern Germany. I am particularly good at the stone throw. When I was in the Bunderswehr (=Army), I was able throw hand grenades very reliable and accurate up to a distance of 50 meter! I was able to do a lot more distance but neither accurate nor in a way which is healthy on a battlefield. In the German language, the next lower distance from a "stone throw" is a "cat leap". |
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Post by The Urban Mythbuster on May 29, 2013 12:51:38 GMT
I wonder if, for the Olympic contest, they used an accurate stone, which would have to weigh 14 lbs (6.35 kg). Which raises the realm of how far can you throw 14 pounds?
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Post by c64 on May 29, 2013 14:15:36 GMT
I wonder if, for the Olympic contest, they used an accurate stone, which would have to weigh 14 lbs (6.35 kg). Which raises the realm of how far can you throw 14 pounds? Well, what they use today is a common standardized brick. I don't know that they used to use but I am sure that they had exact rules, too. Now how to find out if a cat's leap is more or less than a spit distance… |
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Post by The Urban Mythbuster on May 29, 2013 15:09:52 GMT
a spit distance? is that something done by people who are a 'spitting image' of someone else?!
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Post by c64 on May 29, 2013 16:41:26 GMT
a spit distance? is that something done by people who are a 'spitting image' of someone else?! My dictionary translates "cat's leap" (GER) to "spitting distance" (US)… |
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Post by the light works on May 29, 2013 16:46:30 GMT
a spit distance? is that something done by people who are a 'spitting image' of someone else?! My dictionary translates "cat's leap" (GER) to "spitting distance" (US)… we also have "a hop, skip, and a jump" somewhere in there. |
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Post by The Urban Mythbuster on May 29, 2013 17:39:14 GMT
Unofficial units of measurements...
Credit this to my wife's grandmother: "It's just up the road a piece"
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Post by c64 on May 30, 2013 11:41:10 GMT
How about we try to make a list sorted by distance ;D
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Post by The Urban Mythbuster on May 30, 2013 15:23:18 GMT
A hop, skip and a jump Spitting distance/Cat's leap Stone's Throw Down the road a piece seems right  |
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Post by c64 on May 31, 2013 12:42:32 GMT
A hop, skip and a jump Spitting distance/Cat's leap Stone's Throw Down the road a piece seems right The German version of this page here: www.distance.to/_ (www.luftlinie.org) has a different headline "Just a stone's throw away or rather further away?" |
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Post by c64 on Jun 2, 2013 11:55:50 GMT
A hop, skip and a jump Spitting distance/Cat's leap Stone's Throw Down the road a piece seems right Now the question is can you spit further than a cat can jump and what happens if you spit on the cat? |
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Post by The Urban Mythbuster on Jun 2, 2013 12:35:15 GMT
It's a tie. Back to the original concept, what would be the best method for testing this? Do you get a mixture of males & females of various abilities and take an average? |
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Post by c64 on Jun 2, 2013 17:19:07 GMT
It's a tie. Back to the original concept, what would be the best method for testing this? Do you get a mixture of males & females of various abilities and take an average? If there isn't any kind of standard, you can get any kind of result. If you take the Olympic standard, then just look up the world record to have a maximum distance. An average good stone throw should be ½ of this. |
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Post by silverdragon on Jun 14, 2013 7:47:05 GMT
You could see it from here....
If it wasnt for the houses in-between.
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Post by c64 on Jun 15, 2013 20:02:10 GMT
We have a slightly different termilogy for the location "At the end of the world" as in "Middle of nowhere". Something to picturizeA friend when we drove through the countryside reaching for the fan dial of my car: "Now if that isn't the 'end' of the world, you can sure smell it from here!" |
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