Throughout history, the wind has been used as a standard for speed, as
in “run like the wind”. But it occurred to me recently to wonder about
that.
According to the
Beaufort scale,
hurricane-force winds start at 118 km/h (73 mph). Mere strong gales,
which break branches off of trees, are in the 75-88 km/h (47-54 mph)
range.
That doesn’t seem particularly fast these days. Heck, I’ve often passed
people on the highway who were driving “like the wind”
for going too slowly. And we’re not even talking about Formula One
racing or airplanes or Saturn V rockets.
I think it’s rather cool that we as a species have gotten to a point where everyday reality has outstripped the hyperbolic imagery of ages past.
