RANT: Another 'stat' that won't die. "Rule of thumb" means that a man can hit his wife with a rod no thicker than his thumb.

garbage_raccoon · 2024-07-31T17:22:17+00:00

Yuuuup. That whole interpretation comes from the gut feeling ONE 17th century judge had about the origin of the term. Not backed up by any evidence whatsoever.

It almost certainly comes from the practice of using the width of your thumb as a rough measure for an inch. "Rule" being the old word for "measure" (think: "ruler"). Hence, it's meaning: "a rough strategy that'll generally get the job done, but isn't exact."

Doesn't make much sense, linguistically, if the original phrase referred to beating your wife.

Common-Ferret-1435 · 2024-07-31T16:26:08+00:00

Always found that amusing, because why would a man use a stick when he has hands in the first place?

Just sounds like feminist lies or some obscure court ruling 500 years ago.

Even if it was true, who cares? It was 500 years ago. It’s not the case now. They also drowned witches. We don’t do that now.

One day a thousand years from now, maybe women will stop lying about rape. [x] to doubt, but it’s possible.

Cold_Mongoose161 · 2024-07-31T16:38:30+00:00

Another myth that won't die:

Men are more likely to leave their ill partners. So far two studies have claimed this, the second one was flawed and retracted.

https://www.deseret.com/2015/8/4/20569426/study-that-found-husbands-prone-to-leave-sick-wives-was-flawed-researchers-say/#a-coding-error-created-a-false-conclusion-in-a-study-that-found-men-may-be-more-likely-to-bail-on-a-marriage-if-the-wife-becomes-sick-compared-to-if-shes-well-researchers-retracted-the-study

While there is another study from 2009 claiming the same, that study has a bad methodology and uses a very low sample size of just 519 over a very short period of time. Multiple other studies using better methodologies, larger sample sizes and longer time periods have successfully shown the opposite.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2010.00739.x

https://academic.oup.com/jnci/article/91/1/54/2549274

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19189319/

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326167159_The_long-term_impact_of_multiple_sclerosis_on_the_risk_of_divorce

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1352458510370978

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/347528735_Physical_health_conditions_and_subsequent_union_separation_a_couple-level_register_study_on_neurological_conditions_heart_and_lung_disease_and_cancer

https://journals.lww.com/headtraumarehab/Fulltext/2021/07000/Marital_Stability_Over_10_Years_Following.9.aspx#T4

https://www.demographic-research.org/Volumes/Vol16/15/16-15.pdf

sorebum405 · 2024-07-31T23:06:28+00:00

You're right, there was no law allowing men to beat their wives with a stick no longer than the width of their thumb.I believe this myth originated from a 17th century judge named Francis Buller, who allegedly claimed that you could beat your wife with a stick no longer than the width of your thumb.

However, his claim wasn't accepted as an established law. Instead he was mocked and condemned by society for saying this. People even made a caricature of him called "Judge Thumb".This is a good paper on the topic.

swm412 · 2024-07-31T16:51:48+00:00

I first heard “rule of thumb” from my grandfather. In the context of a rule of thumb was something that was a “given” like measure twice, cut once.

ImpressFragrant1427 · 2024-07-31T19:51:00+00:00

“Can’t do much good with that can ya? Shoulda made it the rule of the wrist”-The Boondock Saints

TenuousOgre · 2024-07-31T19:53:17+00:00

I always understood ‘rule of thumb’ having existed as a concept since long before the Bible was written. It refers to using the thumb as a unit of measure, both in carpentry and for layout of buildings and such.

Admirable-Falcon9995 · 2024-07-31T20:34:27+00:00

The current relationship came about in the 70s between an article and a book, Feversham.

There are no records of its existence in English common law.

It's first recorded use was in sermons of James Durham, and it was used to say, "approximately."

"Many profest Christians are like to foolish builders, who build by guess, and by rule of thumb and not by Square and Rule."

-James Durham, late 1600s

NewMoonlightavenger · 2024-08-01T00:50:24+00:00

Even Copilot will tell you that this rod nonsense is bullshit. Why are people this stupid?

mahone007649 · 2024-07-31T23:08:22+00:00

You always going to wind up running smack into a wall when you try to apply social practices from the past as well as other cultures and try to apply today's standards to them. The rule of thumb referring to a stick is true but it got so watered down that it just meant standard practice and has nothing to do with beating your wife in modern applications. There are many old sayings that we use in mundane ways not realizing they have a dark history

Carbo-Raider · 2024-08-01T18:16:08+00:00

Wow. THIS right here is a good example of the toxicity that spreads thru female spaces on the internet. Women AND GIRLS are getting brainwashed in a way that will mess up their lives.

Angry_Angel3141 · 2024-08-06T09:28:54+00:00

Well you can’t do much damage with that, now can you? Perhaps it should have been a rule of the wrist?

Mannspreader · 2024-08-01T00:02:05+00:00

Sounds fair.

Title	RANT: Another 'stat' that won't die. "Rule of thumb" means that a man can hit his wife with a rod no thicker than his thumb.
Author	Mode1961
Upvotes	177
Comments	29
Date	July 31, 2024 4:23 PM UTC (1 year ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/1egrexk/rant_another_stat_that_wont_die_rule_of_thumb/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/rant-another-stat-that-wont-die-rule-of-thumb.1525904 https://theredarchive.com/post/1525904

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