j_bertolottiJul 20, 2023
The first time I ever heard the word "fortnight" was when somebody told me that one furlong per fortnight is almost exactly 1 cm per minute.
That was also the first time I was exposed to the word "furlong". You can imagine my confusion.
Show threadJohn Carlos BaezJul 20, 2023
@j_bertolotti - interestingly furlongs are only used for horizontal distances, and fathoms only for vertical, so the number of fathoms per furlong is like the speed of light in meters/second.
Show threadMatt McIrvin
@johncarlosbaez Reminds me of the Saturday Night Live sketch that is a "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" parody, in which Captain Nemo spends the whole thing unsuccessfully struggling to explain that 20,000 leagues is a distance and not how deep they are.
Jul 20, 2023 at 12:37pmWeb
Show threadOscar CunninghamJul 20, 2023
@mattmcirvin @johncarlosbaez I just tried to watch this but apparently it's lost media. We only have the second half of it: https://www.reddit.com/r/lostmedia/comments/zkk2gt/partially_lost_snl_sketch_20000_leagues_under_the/.
[Partially lost] SNL Sketch “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea” - Episode S19E17

I’ve tried to find this complete sketch for years. Every version I find seems to come from the same VHS recording. It only ever has about half...

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