I just heard today that "rule of thumb" does NOT mean what I thought it meant. I'd assumed (thereby making an "ass" of "u" and "me," heh heh heh) that it stemmed from the time of the Roman Emperors - who would extend their thumb upwards if a gladiator was to live, and downwards if he was to die, after his performance.

Now I've learned that actually, the rule of thumb was that a man (in what era, I'm afraid I don't know) was allowed to beat his wife and children, but not with a stick larger than the size of his thumb.

Nice, eh?

"Will you marry me?"

"Uh....let's see your thumb, first."

From "The Straight Dope" : For more than 300 years "rule of thumb" has meant what most people think it means: any rough-and-ready method of estimating. It's believed to have originated with woodworkers, who made measurements with their thumbs.

This article completely discounts the wife beating theory as well. See the article at: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/000512.html

Dear MG: Rule of thumb has always meant to me a simple commonsense solution to a problem. Here is another long URL that casts doubt on wife beating theory:

http://www.urbanlegends.com/language/etymology/rule_of_thumb.html

Thanks for the note, Bill. I never realized "rule of thumb" might be an urban legend, but have always accepted it without question. (I don't know why. I just kept hearing it in different places.)


In any case, since I got my first taste of AI years ago, I've taken to using the word heuristic, which seems a natural enough selection to me, but my non-technical co-conversationalists don't seem to follow me when I do. Then I say, "Well, it's like a rule of thumb" and then "Oh! Why didn't you say so!"


k

Yes, thank you, Bill. I skimmed your link and found several references that might have led people to believe that "rule of thumb" means what I posted above - but the woodworking theory that Angel mentions is far more likely.

Artists also measure things in a rule-of-thumb kinda way, though not necessarily with their thumbs: they are taught to hold up their drawing implement "against" the part they are trying to draw, and then drop this "measurement" onto the page in front of them.

Perhaps that's "rule of eye"? or "rule of pencil/charcoal/conte"?!

Let us go in peace to love and serve the board.

In her book "The History of The Bride," Maralyn Yolam confirms that the rule of thumb was the rule that a man might not beat his wife with a cane bigger around than his thumb.

Dear IP: :Yeah, but. If you would take the trouble to read the URL I cited, it says that while a couple judges of no particular merit allowed that "rule" it was not widespread and not often invoked. It is an
exaggeration to say it "was law."

Dear wwh,

Now, don't get your feathers ruffled ;)

I didn't say it was a law, I was only suggesting it might not have originated with handworkers qua handworkers.

IP

Dear IP: Forgive me for seeming ruffled. Far from it. The origin of the phrase is
cloudy. As you suggest, I have heard it only as suggesting a common sense
solution to a practical matter.

Dear wwh,

Forgive *you*? Forgive *me* for seeming upset, my gracious friend.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

What do English people call the old wooden yardsticks that folded up onto itself to 6inch final length

I 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

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

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.html

OOPS! Sorry

Hi Angel,

Can you remove everything before the www in your link to make it clickable.

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

The purpose that this site shares for needing one is quite gruesome.

Wow, I was expecting something much worse, actually. What a fascinating site - especially for those of us who love crime fiction! (specifically murder mysteries) Thanks for this, Angel!

Let us go in peace to love and serve the board.