Where does the expression "rule of thumb" come from?

Question

I read the answer once and would like to award 10 points to the first right answer....or the funniest!

Answer 1

a man was not able to beat his wife with a stick that was any thicker then his thumb.... this is right, not funny

Answer 2

Take your Pick:

The measurement of an inch is derived from the distance between the base of the thumbnail and the first joint. This is a plausible origin as the thumb is often used for rough measurement by carpenters, seamstresses, artists and many others.

Pete's Wicked Trivia, promotional material for Pete's Wicked Ale, states that the phrase came from brewers who dipped their thumbs in the product to detemine that the beer wort had cooled to the proper temperature for adding yeast, before the advent of thermometers.

The Russian Tzar Alexander II has been suggested as the creator of this term. In an apocryphal story he is said to have drawn the route of a railroad from St. Petersburg to Moscow, accidentally tracing his thumb. The engineers, nervous about disobeying his orders, laid the tracks with an unnecessary curve according to the line drawn.

A technique for approximating the general direction of the wind involves wetting the thumb then raising it in the air.

It is often claimed that the term originally referred to the maximum thickness of a stick with which it was permissible for a man to beat his wife. This explanation for the origin of the term was popularized in the opening of the 1999 movie The Boondock Saints.


Caricature condemning BullerLinguist Michael Quinion, citing the research of Sharon Fenick, notes that there are some examples of a related usage historically — most notably with regard to a supposed pronouncement by a British judge, Sir Francis Buller. However, it is questionable whether Buller ever made such a pronouncement and there is even less evidence that he phrased it as a "rule of thumb"; the rumored statement was so unpopular that it caused him to be lambasted as "Judge Thumb" in a satirical James Gillray cartoon. According to Quinion, the term "Rule of Thumb" was first documented in English in 1692, long before Buller's reported pronouncement. The first known usage of the phrase "rule of thumb" in direct reference to domestic violence was in 1976, in the book Battered Wives by Del Martin.

Answer 3

In ancient times a raised thumb meant life a down turned thumb meant death !

You don't ignore the rule of the thumb

Answer 4

The end of the thumb between nail and first joint measures approx 1 inch. Near enough for estimating purposes anyway.
Hence the term rule of thumb.
Trust me it is correct and I actually used this fact when at school a few years ago.
Useful for measuring distances on maps.

Answer 5

I think Lisa P got there first - that's what I understand it to mean - even thought some ignorant fool gave her the thumbs down.

Answer 6

Greeks I'd say, the democracy of the collusium, majority rules, thumbs down; FINISH HIM!

Answer 7

the size of some long-dead kings thumb was adopted as the official guide for 1 inch.
can't rem his name, sorry.

Answer 8

It is the thickness of a branch that a man was allowed to use to beat his wife. NO thicker than his thumb. It isn't funny, it is sad.

Answer 9

Term originally referred to the maximum thickness of a stick with which it was permissible for a man to beat his wife!

It is often used as simple term for 'quickly understood, easily used, practical method'.

Answer 10

give the points to eldude for funniest answer