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Length/Distance | Convert from palmo [Spanish] to mark twain |
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Common Length Conversions Metric Length Conversions Unit Definition (palmo [Spanish]) The palmo is a traditional unit of distance in Spain and Portugal. The traditional Spanish palmo equals 9 pulgadas or 1/4 vara: this is about 20.9 centimeters in Spain and a little more than that in Spanish Latin America. Under the metric system in Spain, the palmo is an informal unit equal to 20 centimeters. These units are based on the width of a person's outstretched hand, from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger, a definition identical to that of the English span. Unit Definition (mark twain) The mark twain or twain is an old word for the number two, derived from the Anglo-Saxon twegen. The American author Samuel Clemens (1835-1910), who had been a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi in his youth, took his literary name from a traditional riverboat phrase "mark twain", meaning "exactly two" fathoms of water. This was the minimum depth needed for the boats to operate safely without running aground.
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