Skip to main content

Short-Duration Motion

Movement that happens so quickly you barely register it, from the blink of an eye to the snap of a finger to the moment your phone slides off the table and you fail to catch it. Short-duration motion is the realm of reflexes, instinct, and regret—the split second when you realize you've said something stupid and watch the other person's face change in slow motion, even though the actual motion was fast. It's the temporal home of accidents, epiphanies, and the exact moment a toast lands butter-side down.
Example: "The short-duration motion of the car accident lasted less than a second, but he replayed it for months—the screech, the impact, the airbag. His therapist said that's normal: short events, long consequences. He said he'd prefer shorter consequences and longer events, like a nice vacation."
Short-Duration Motion by Abzugal February 14, 2026

Short-Duration Motion Machines

Devices designed to capture, measure, or create movements that happen in fractions of a second—high-speed cameras that freeze bullets in flight, strobe lights that reveal the wingbeat of a hummingbird, and the shutter button on your phone that you press a moment too late, capturing your friend's blink instead of their smile. These machines reveal a world that exists too fast for human perception, a hidden realm of split-second decisions, fleeting expressions, and the exact moment a water balloon bursts.
Short-Duration Motion Machines *Example: "He bought a short-duration motion machine—a high-speed camera that could record 100,000 frames per second. His first project was filming a water balloon popping. The footage revealed structures and patterns no human eye had ever seen. His second project was filming his cat knocking things off tables, which was less scientific but more entertaining."*

Short-Range Spaceflight

The art of leaving the planet just long enough to wave goodbye, then coming right back down—suborbital hops, tourist flights to the edge of space, and any mission where you can still see your house from the window. Short-range spaceflight is for people who want to be astronauts but also want to be home for dinner. It's the space equivalent of dipping your toe in the cosmic ocean before deciding the water's too cold and returning to the beach of Earth's atmosphere, slightly shaken but ready for the souvenir photo.
*Example: "He bought a ticket for short-range spaceflight on a billionaire's rocket—11 minutes of weightlessness, a view of the curve of Earth, and then back home in time for lunch. When asked if he felt like an astronaut, he said he felt like a very privileged tourist who had briefly escaped the gravity of his problems, which immediately resumed upon landing."*
Short-Range Spaceflight by Abzugal February 14, 2026

Short Man Mentality

A psychological defense mechanism where a man’s vertical stature is inversely proportional to his level of aggression. It manifests as a loud, fearless need to dominate every room, usually accompanied by driving a lifted pickup truck or constantly mentioning an intense gym routine.
Chase has such a "Short Man Mentality"

thick as two short planks 

an expression defining how stupid someone is; chiefly British.
i.e.: the thickness of two planks of wood stacked one atop the other.
sometimes shortened to "two short planks"
"Whoah, you're thick as two short planks!"



Stop short 

Frank Costanza's "move", which he claims to have used on Estelle Costanza circa 1955.

It involves the driver hitting the brakes in a moving vehicle, suddenly (stopping-short), and throwing out the hand closest to the front seat passenger's chest, as to stop them from being hurled towards the dashboard; inadvertently, groping the passenger's chest in the process.
Frank: "I used it on Estelle 40 years ago. I told EVERYBODY about it, everybody knows - *HMPH* - I stop short!"

Jerry: "Really..? 'Stopping short' - that's a good move..."

Frank: "You're not kidding it's a good move!"
Stop short by Tunachipz July 28, 2019