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The exact origin of the phrase is uncertain. [4] Its earliest (1685) appearance in print comes from a posthumously published collection of sermons by Scottish preacher James Durham: "Many profest Christians are like to foolish builders, who build by guess, and by rule of thumb (as we use to speak), and not by Square and Rule."
Either way, these variations would have been derived from the Indo-European root word -peuk, meaning "to prick". [120] The expression "rule of thumb" did not originate from an English law allowing a man to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb, and there is no evidence that such a law ever existed. [122]
Faggot: The origin of the slur usage of the word "faggot" (originally referring to a bundle of firewood) may be from the term for women used in a similar way to "baggage", i.e. something heavy to be dealt with. The usage may also have been influenced by the British term "fag", meaning a younger schoolboy who acts as an older schoolboy's servant ...
"The exception that proves the rule" is a saying whose meaning is contested. Henry Watson Fowler's Modern English Usage identifies five ways in which the phrase has been used, [1] and each use makes some sort of reference to the role that a particular case or event takes in relation to a more general rule.
1. The idea that the "thumb-diameter stick rule" is the origin of the phrase "Rule of Thumb" is not a "hoax"; it is misinterpretation of what Del Martin wrote, which has since blossomed into an urban legend. The word "hoax" implies intent to deceive, and there has certainly been no evidence of that. 2.
But with the average payment for used cars at $525 and for new cars at $734, per Experian, that rule of thumb is out the window. "We're seeing individuals paying 21%-22% of their income toward car ...
Hanlon's razor is an adage or rule of thumb that states: [1]. Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity. It is a philosophical razor that suggests a way of eliminating unlikely explanations for human behavior.
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