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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
Until recently I had never heard the size-of-a-stick, wife-beating, stick size definition of rule-of-thumb and assumed immediately that it was an urban legend.
I had always been taught that it meant measuring with the tip of your tumb - which is roughly one inch long. An experienced woodworker who always uses this same measure would have been accurate enough. It is like somebody who measure distance with his paces. If you know you pace at three feet then you can be accurate enough.
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833
old hand
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OP
old hand
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833 |
Hey bel - or anyone - what about the "foot" measurement coming to us from the length of a ruler's (heh heh) foot? - hey, is that also where we get "ruler" from? the typical ruler being a foot long (though I also have some baby rulers that are half that size).
Let us go in peace to love and serve the board.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear MG: here is a URL with a lot more information about measurements than you really want to know: http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/custom.html
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379 |
Re: Dr. Bill's URL
To which I would add that a cupit (sp?) or "amot" in Hebrew, is a length measured from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger.
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
Thanks Bill - quite interesting. I saw a lot of terms I want to know more on. I'll have to go through the entire thing when I have more than a couple of minutes.
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One question though, since we are in measurements etc.
What do English people call the old wooden yardsticks that folded up onto itself to 6inch final length. In French we call it a King's foot (un pied du roi). You never see that tool anymore but I know my Dad still has one.
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346 |
What do English people call the old wooden yardsticks that folded up onto itself to 6inch final lengthI believe it's a "yardstick", no less, choupette  Occurs to me that a rule of thumb is really a ruler of thumb, and the important thing is that it is an inexact measurement, approximation, "near as dammit" thing. If you had the same carpenter/builder constructing something in its entirety, you could use the size of their extremities as measurements without everything going pear-shaped ( non-Brit equivalents, folks?) - but once there is more than one person involved in the construction, you simply have to standardise. Fisk
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 39
newbie
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newbie
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 39 |
What do English people call the old wooden yardsticks that folded up onto itself to 6inch final length?
Both of my grandfathers were carpenters and they used a "folding ruler" when they wanted something more precise than a rule of thumb (or forearm, or foot, or span). The folding ruler was a 6-foot wooden ruler that did fold up to a length of about 6 or 7 inches. Though spring-wound tape measures seem to be more in vogue today, I believe you can still purchase folding rulers at building supply stores.
Incidentally, would an abdicating king be a "folding ruler"?
(sorry!)
Robert
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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 688
addict
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addict
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 688 |
My hubby has one of these folding rulers, and uses it constantly! He will grab that before a tape measure any time the distance to be measured is 6 feet or less. I looked at his for a name. It is USA made by Columbia and is called an "Eagle Ruler", although I think that is their name for it, not the general populations. I googled it a bit and found a nice picture of one if you aren't sure what we are all talking about. WARNING The purpose that this site shares for needing one is quite gruesome. Don't read the discription if you don't want to be upset.  http://www.csigizmos.com/products/measuringdevices/foldingruler.htmlOOPS! Sorry 
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
Hi Angel,
Can you remove everything before the www in your link to make it clickable.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear belMarduk: If you "select" (highlight) the faulty URL, the use edit, copy,,,,edit,paste the faulty URL
into the location box. You can then edit out the troublesome extra characters, and it will work. I just did
it. Bill
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