A furlong is a unit of length that is used primarily in horse racing and some other sports, as well as in some older systems of measurement. In modern terms, one furlong is equal to 1/8th of a mile. This is equivalent to 660 feet or 220 yards.
The term "furlong" has historical roots and was originally used in medieval England as a way to measure distances for plowing fields. Over time, it became associated with horse racing and is still used today to describe the length of a horse racing track. In horse racing, races are often measured in furlongs, and the distance of a race may be referred to as "6 furlongs" or "10 furlongs," for example.
While the furlong is not commonly used in everyday measurements, it is still relevant in certain specialized contexts, particularly in horse racing and related sports.
A "twip" is a unit of measurement used in desktop publishing and computer graphics, especially in the context of Microsoft Windows. The term "twip" is an abbreviation for "twentieth of a point," and it is used to define very small distances and sizes.
In the twip system:
1 twip is equal to 1/20th of a point. 1 point (abbreviated as "pt") is equal to approximately 20 twips.
Because a point is roughly 1/72nd of an inch, 1 twip is approximately 1/1440th of an inch (or about 1/567 millimeters).
Twips are used in various applications, including word processing, graphics design, and layout software. They are particularly valuable for precise positioning and sizing of elements on a computer screen or when preparing documents for printing. The twip system is commonly used in Microsoft Windows-based applications and the Windows Graphics Device Interface (GDI).
For example, in Microsoft Word, you can set paragraph spacing or element positioning in twips to achieve fine control over the layout of your documents.