Within spitting distance
I'd like to ask what distance may have speakers in mind when they say "within spitting distance" as I've just heard it in last episode of BBC's Escape to the Country when the would-be escapees told that they'd like to move to Saint Ives' area, Cambridgeshire, because it's "within spitting distance" of the sea (which is not closer than 20 miles).
So, isn't it a bit of a stretch to say "within spitting distance" for such a distance? or is it common use? I have a hard time imagining anything but a Dicke Bertha spitting that way.
By the way, the Spanish expressions "a tiro de piedra", "...de flecha", "...de lanza", "... de jabalina" are used with distances, at most a 20 minute walk. Sometimes other creative expressions like "a tiro de rifle" or even "a tiro de obús" are used for distances that are a bit more (or more than a bit more) than "a tiro de flecha".
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