[Fictionary] cutty-eye results

[Jean-Joseph Cote]

>     *Linda:*
>     cutty-eye, v. to estimate a distance or height of an object by
>     using the thumb and squinting the eye while doing so. Nautical term.
>     * Elliott: ``Daumensprung'', they call this in Germany. Your eyes
>     are about one-tenth as far from each other as from your thumb when
>     your arm is outstretched, so if you see your thumb jump three
>     times the length of a 12-meter-long boat when you wink your left
>     vs. right eye, then the boat must be about 10 * 3 * 12 = 360
>     meters away.  But how do you do height?
>
This should work fine if you already know how far away the object is. 
Like, if you're checking out a ship as she rounds Naufrage Point heading 
toward the harbor (as you like to do on a fine afternoon such as this), 
and you know that since she's inside of The Crushers she has to be two 
and a half leagues off, then you can use your thumb to determine just 
how grand a schooner you're dealing with.
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