smoot

To me, this is a verb, and it means "fussing unnecessarily over plans, however inconsequential." The kind of behavior that makes other people on your work team want to say, "Dude! Chill!" even if they hate that type of speech.

I smoot daily.

From Wikipedia: "The smoot is a nonstandard unit of length created as part of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) fraternity prank. It is named after Oliver R. Smoot (class of 1962), an MIT fraternity pledge to Lambda Chi Alpha, who in October 1958 was used by his fraternity brothers to measure the length of the Harvard Bridge between Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts... the bridge's length was measured to be 364.4 smoots (620.1 m) plus or minus one ear."

More here.

tinyfossil, that definition makes me SO happy. I just love quirks that are specific to a particular place. :)

Anyone? Anyone? The tariff bill? The Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act? Which, anyone? Raised or lowered? ...raised tariffs, in an effort to collect more revenue for the federal government. Did it work? Anyone?

A hole or opening at the foot of a wall, the bottom of a fence or hedge, etc., esp. one allowing the passage of hares, rabbits, or sheep; a narrow passage or entrance in a beehive.

-OED

I learned this term from IBM Fellow Jerry Woodall, who went to school with Oliver Smoot at MIT. If I recall correctly, he may even have been involved in the original measurement process. :-)