jiffy

[jamwan55]

how long is A 'jiffy'

or
where did the word come from

[Clanad]

In computer engineering, the length of time between successive microprocessor clock cycles is sometimes called a jiffy. This interval gets shorter as clock speeds increase. In a computer with a 2-gigahertz microprocessor, the jiffy is 0.5 nanosecond or 5 x 10-10. In some circles, the length of time required for one alternating-current (AC) utility power cycle is called a jiffy. In the United States and Canada, this is 1/60 second. In many other countries, it is 1/50 second.
In some publications, the term jiffy refers to 0.001 second. In others, it corresponds to the length of time required for a beam of light to travel one foot in free space; this is approximately 1 nanosecond. In still others, it refers to 3.3357 times 10-11 seconds, which is the length of time it takes a ray of light to travel 1 centimeter in free space. Perhaps the most interesting interpretation is the one suggested by Richard Tolman early in the 20th century. He considered a jiffy to be the length of time it takes a photon (light particle) to travel from one side of a nucleon (neutron or proton) to the other. A nucleon has a diameter of about 10-15 meter; a jiffy in this context is a paltry 3.3357 x 10-24 second.

The origin of the term jiffy is unknown. It is thought to have first been used in England during the 1700s, and referred to a brief but indeterminate time. But in some contexts, it is used as a put-off: the expression in a jiffy can mean "maybe now, maybe never."

Even the highly authoritative Oxford English Dictionary says "Origin unascertained." The earliest use it gives is from Munchhausen's Travels (1785): "In six jiffies I found myself and all my retinue . . . at the rock of Gibralter [sic]."

(Source: Various)

[jamwan55]

you on a roll tonight clanad

[Thicko2006]

A jiffy is approximately half a fraction of a smidgeon.

[heathfield]

Jiffy Bags live up to their name until they are in the hands of the postal services. Then they seem to take forever!

[xx marti xx]

8"

[spudmuffa]

Good question. A jiffy was a mode of transport prevalent in the colonial days of India.
It was made of bamboo and could carry two people. The Indian who operated it, stood in a vine harness in the middle of the jiffy and raised it off the ground. There was a seat in the front facing the front, and a seat at the back facing backwards. Once the guy had picked up two passengers,he would raise it off the ground and run like hell to the destination with the two passengers.
If he only had one passenger, then he would put a huge urn of water in the vacant seat to counter-balance the passenger. If the Operator tired in the heat, then sometimes the passenger would get out of the seat and run with him. It went out of practice when they invented the motorbike. Some say the Jiffy was the fore-runner of todays motorbike. Hence the saying "I'll be there in a Jiffy". Hope this helps.

[bloop-]

it 1/100 of a second

[Hard@it]

Spudmuffa for me !