Paul Graham on Twitter: "The traditional definition of an acre is 22 yards (4 rods) by 220 yards (a furlong). Not coincidentally, cricket wickets are 22 yards apart. So if you want to envision an acre, imagine a rectangle that wide and 10x as long."

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1. Paul Graham‏Verified account @paulg 11 Sep 2020
  The reason the traditional definition of an acre is so long and thin is that oxen are hard to turn.
  
  14 replies 21 retweets 390 likes
  
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1. Toby Rowland‏ @tobyrowland 11 Sep 2020
  Replying to @paulg
  
  But how long is it in fathoms?
  
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1. Emmanuel Torty‏ @EmmanuelTorty 11 Sep 2020
  Replying to @paulg
  
  Intuitive way to imagine an acre
  
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1. Jayant ‏ @gripened 11 Sep 2020
  Replying to @paulg
  
  Investing in real estate? Near the forest?
  
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1. Nick Wilsher‏ @nick_wilsher 11 Sep 2020
  Replying to @paulg
  
  Every day is a school day.
  
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1. Waqas Younas‏ @wyounas 11 Sep 2020
  Replying to @paulg
  
  Do you play cricket, PG? :)
  
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1. Zagey‏ @zagey_yya 11 Sep 2020
  Replying to @paulg
  
  Lmao this just reminded me of the office fire drill episode..."how many is that per hour"... "I will devide and then count to it"
  
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1. Circle Back Pat‏ @CircleBackPat 11 Sep 2020
  Replying to @paulg
  
  This is why metric loses
  
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1. Ben Blaine‏ @BenjiBlaine 11 Sep 2020
  Replying to @paulg
  
  Ben Blaine Retweeted Ben Blaine
  
  I can sense it cominghttps://twitter.com/BenjiBlaine/status/1304346015936512000?s=20 …
  
  Ben Blaine added,
  
  Ben Blaine @BenjiBlaine
  
  Replying to @paulg
  
  http://www.paulgraham.com/cricket.html
  
  2 likes
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1. Ramanand‏ @quatrainman 11 Sep 2020
  Replying to @paulg
  
  A 17th century measuring instrument called Gunter's chain was 22 yards (it had 100 links, making it easier to measure smaller segments), and was commonly used in land measurements. Eventually, cricket used it to standardize the pitch's length (using it to measure it out).
  
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