# How long is a jiffy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 27, 2001, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-a-jiffy/63521 "2001-04-27T11:11:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cheeses\_Priced\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Cheeses\_Priced\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheeses_Priced_1)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-a-jiffy/63521/1 "2001-04-27T11:11:26Z")
Bonzi, the fun helpful informative (irritating, corporate) purple web ape told me that a jiffy is an actual unit of time, equal to 1/100th of a second. Reading The Straight Dope has made me cynical about these sorts of “fun facts”, and my dictionary says nothing of this, so I’ll ask you guys- is their any truth to this whatsoever? ---
**Author:** ![ryoushi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@ryoushi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryoushi)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-a-jiffy/63521/2 "2001-04-27T11:12:43Z")
Personally, I’d use “millisecond”. ---
**Author:** ![frobozz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ed8c4c/32.png) [@frobozz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frobozz)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-a-jiffy/63521/3 "2001-04-27T11:13:20Z")
_Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader_ says the same thing. They don’t give a cite for everything, but they use a lot of reputable sources, including the Straight Dope. ---
**Author:** ![Spritle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Spritle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spritle)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-a-jiffy/63521/4 "2001-04-27T11:19:10Z")
a Jiffy is 1/1000 of a “moment” and 1/10,000 of a “little bit” - when referring to time measurement. It is also equivalent to 10[sup]e[/sup] “ohnoseconds”, which is the time between you realizing that you left your keys in the car and you hearing the car door slam behind you. ---
**Author:** ![starfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/87869e/32.png) [@starfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/starfish)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-a-jiffy/63521/5 "2001-04-27T12:38:18Z")
It’s 20-25 minutes at Jiffy Lube. ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-a-jiffy/63521/6 "2001-04-27T12:42:14Z")
Where I come from, “Jiffy” is slang for a condom, and therefore this question is taking on rather personal overtones… Gp ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Cool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecb155/32.png) [@Joe\_Cool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Cool)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-a-jiffy/63521/7 "2001-04-27T13:52:43Z")
I found [this](http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/dictJ.html): > [@](#): > > jiffy > a unit of time used in computer engineering. A jiffy is the length of one cycle, or tick, of the computer’s system clock. In the past, this was often equal to one period of the alternating current powering the computer: 1/60 second in the U.S. and Canada, usually 1/50 second elsewhere. More recently the jiffy has become standardized, more or less, as 0.01 second (10 milliseconds). The word jiffy, with its ordinary meaning of an instant or very brief time, appeared in English during the eighteenth century, but its origin is not known. and [this](http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/html/entry/jiffy.html): > [@](#): > > jiffy n. > > 1. The duration of one tick of the system clock on your computer (see [tick](http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/html/entry/tick.html)). Often one AC cycle time (1/60 second in the U.S. and Canada, 1/50 most other places), but more recently 1/100 sec has become common. “The swapper runs every 6 jiffies” means that the virtual memory management routine is executed once for every 6 ticks of the clock, or about ten times a second. 2. Confusingly, the term is sometimes also used for a 1-millisecond [wall time](http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/html/entry/wall-time.html) interval. 3. Even more confusingly, physicists semi-jokingly use `jiffy’ to mean the time required for light to travel one foot in a vacuum, which turns out to be close to one nanosecond. 4. Indeterminate time from a few seconds to forever. “I’ll do it in a jiffy” means certainly not now and possibly never. This is a bit contrary to the more widespread use of the word. Oppose [nano](http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/html/entry/nano.html). See also [Real Soon Now](http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/html/entry/Real-Soon-Now.html). How long is _your_ jiffy? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-a-jiffy/63521/8 "2001-04-27T14:15:29Z")
Funny – _I_ was taught (back in the days when my school had **cassette tape drives** :eek: )that a jiffy was 1/50 of a second – but I went to school in the US. I wonder where my teacher learned it… ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-a-jiffy/63521/9 "2001-04-27T15:11:25Z")
A jiffy is the amount of time it should take you to get rid of that goddamn purple monkey. Cursed was the day I downloaded it and it took me a lot more than a jiffy until I figured out (with a little help from my friends on the SDMB) how. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-a-jiffy/63521/10 "2001-04-27T15:50:41Z")
Physicists, on the other hand, typically define the jiffy as the time it takes for light to travel either one meter, or the diameter of a hydrogen atom. Much smaller than the computer unit, I’d say. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2001, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-a-jiffy/63521/11 "2001-04-28T00:45:14Z")
About the same lenght as a “round-to-it.” ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2001, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-a-jiffy/63521/12 "2001-04-28T01:22:14Z")
Twice as long as a “snap” and almost 5 times shorter than a “thrice”. Ancient Sumarians used a measure of time known as the Jyftykx. This information was unearthed at the same time as definitive proof that Charlton Heston really did part the Red Sea- and did so with significantly MORE upper torso definition than that lazy-assed leader of many, Moses. 😃 The Jyftykx was roughly the time it took an Egyptian Mosquito to light upon one’s arm and penetrate the dermis layer. Grecians shortened the word to Jyfty, and then once the Gauls got ahold of it, it was known as \* Le Jyftee\*, or the Little Pause. Modern scholars acknowledge that while the Gauls may have added unnecessary vowels ( as is SO frequently the case with the French ), the real milestone in the development of this word came when it reached Scandinavia. There, it became known as “Jifftygooorensonskaag”, or " longest freaking word ever used for a nanosecond". 😉 I love etymology. I just wish I could stop with the compulsive lying. Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![Kamandi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5daacb/32.png) [@Kamandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamandi)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2001, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-a-jiffy/63521/13 "2001-04-28T01:23:36Z")
> [@](#): > > _About the same lenght as a “round-to-it.”_ Now wait a jiffy, bub. How can a round-to-it have a **length**? It has a **diameter** of “about that much”. I’ve never heard of a jiffy being an actual measure of time. I thought it was a little less than “just a sec”. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2001, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-a-jiffy/63521/14 "2001-04-28T21:43:16Z")
**Cartooniverse** : LOL, but I think you meant a trice, not thrice. And how long is thrice a trice, anyway? All these different definitions of jiffy are confusing. Maybe it’s time to standardize things, add it to SI or something. And add trice to SI at the same time. Then we can start using units like Yottajiffy and zeptotrice (I did run into a use of zeptonewton recently. Surprised me as I didn’t think anyone was actually using any of those new prefixes.) ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2001, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-a-jiffy/63521/15 "2001-04-28T22:40:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dtilque \* > \*\* LOL, but I think you meant a trice, not thrice. And how long is thrice a trice, anyway? \*\* \*\* blink. blink.\*\*. Oh shit. You’re so very right, I meant a trice. Thrice a trice is exactly three times longer than an unotrice. 😃