in the flick of a pony’s tail
The flick of a pony’s tale is an idiom that conveys time, the time it takes for a pony to flick it’s tail. An estimation based on a socially common experience is an extremely good way of communicating a time. No pre-requisit to learn highly structured metrics (minutes, hours). Pressumably, when this phrase was in common parlance horses, ponies, were seen on a daily basis, flicking their tails. Wikipedia lists some ‘strange’ units of measurement. Within this list are examples of socially common objects and events to communicate the ‘size’ of something. Examples include:
Length:
- double-decker bus
- football field
- distance walked while smoking a cigarette
Data storage capacity
- bibles
- encyclopedia
- Library of congress
Wonderful words with communicative power. How would you measure a dose of the flu, or laughter?
