If you ’re just taking a jiffy to translate this , I ’ve get word for you : your time was up a foresighted clip ago . A lot of the measurement figures of speech we use have actual numbers behind them - register on to find out what you ’re actually saying when you ask for a smidgeon or a dash of something .

1 . A touch . If you have an sometime cookbook that bid for a emergency of common salt , but really just pinching your finger in the salt shaker is not exact enough for your precise mind , never fear . A pinch is said to be adequate to about 1/16 of a teaspoonful these days , though it was once 1/8 of a tsp . If you ’re rightfully using a centuries - old cookbook , you ’d be better off using the 1/8 tsp .

2 . A jiffy . Don’t say " back in a jif " to genuine - minded admirer , because you ’ll be late . Scientist Gilbert Newton Lewis fix a trice as the amount of time it read visible radiation to go one centimeter - 33.3564 picosecond ( a picosecond is a trillionth of a second , by the mode ) . In electronics , a instant is the time between switch current power - normally 1/50 or 1/60 of a second .

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3 . A check . “Wait just a tick " is n’t much of a delay . A tick is about 0.01 instant in the computing world , but it ’s also the smallest increment of time used in an gymnastic rival . conveniently , this is often the same amount of clock time as the computing tick - 0.01 instant , though sometimes it ’s a mere 0.1 seconds .

4 . A smidgen . If you just postulate a smidgin of butter in a recipe , it ’s only 1/32 of a teaspoon , which is n’t even worth append the butter at all .

5 . A waggle . likewise to jif , " back in a shake " is n’t biding you any time - just 10 nanoseconds .

6 . A dash . Add a dash of black pepper to a recipe and you ’re tipping the plate at 1/8 of a teaspoon .

7 . A shade . It ’s also sometimes defined as 1/8 of a teaspoonful .

8 . A drop . Sources seem to reason on how much a single drop-off actually is . Some cite a generous 1/60 of a teaspoon , while others are stingier at 1/80 or even 1/120 .

Can anyone secernate me how much a scoatch is ? As in , " Hey , move over a scoatch . " Is that even how you import it ?

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