VERMnacular: 25 feet, adj.

1. The distance away from doors smokers are supposed to stand at the University of South Dakota.

2. An intangible distance most smokers and non-smokers fail to readily identify.

3. The length of the world’s largest snake, Medusa.

Origin: USD adopted its policy of no smoking within 25 feet after many expressed their displeasure with the previous policy, which also prohibited smoking near doors. The adopted figure was selected as an appropriate distance to prevent unwanted inhalation of smoke without overly inconveniencing the smoker.

Sample 1:

“Why are you smoking so close to the building?”

“I don’t know how far 25 feet is.”

Sample 2:

“I was going to stand 25 feet from the building, but it’s snowing.”

Sample 3:

“Despite the 25 feet policy, I still walked through a cloud of smoke when I went to class.”

“Doesn’t help that someone moved the ashtray closer to the door.”