rule of thumb - meaning and definition. What is rule of thumb
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What (who) is rule of thumb - definition

PRINCIPLE WITH BROAD APPLICATION THAT IS NOT INTENDED TO BE STRICTLY ACCURATE OR RELIABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION
Rule-of-thumb; Rules of thumb; Prima-digitarchy; Rule of Thumb; The rule of thumb; Rule of thumb definition
  • Cartoon by [[James Gillray]] satirizing [[Sir Francis Buller]], 1782: "Judge Thumb; or, Patent Sticks for Family Correction: Warranted Lawful!"

rule of thumb         
see rule
Rule of thumb         
In English, the phrase rule of thumb refers to an approximate method for doing something, based on practical experience rather than theory. This usage of the phrase can be traced back to the 17th century and has been associated with various trades where quantities were measured by comparison to the width or length of a thumb.
rule of thumb         
a broadly accurate guide or principle, based on practice rather than theory.

Wikipedia

Rule of thumb

In English, the phrase rule of thumb refers to an approximate method for doing something, based on practical experience rather than theory. This usage of the phrase can be traced back to the 17th century and has been associated with various trades where quantities were measured by comparison to the width or length of a thumb.

A modern folk etymology holds that the phrase is derived from the maximum width of a stick allowed for wife-beating under English common law, but no such law ever existed. This belief may have originated in a rumored statement by 18th-century judge Sir Francis Buller that a man may beat his wife with a stick no wider than his thumb. The rumor produced numerous jokes and satirical cartoons at Buller's expense, but there is no record that he made such a statement.

English jurist Sir William Blackstone wrote in his Commentaries on the Laws of England of an "old law" that once allowed "moderate" beatings by husbands, but he did not mention thumbs or any specific implements. Wife-beating has been officially outlawed for centuries in England (and the rest of the United Kingdom) and the United States, but continued in practice; several 19th-century American court rulings referred to an "ancient doctrine" that the judges believed had allowed husbands to physically punish their wives using implements no thicker than their thumbs.

The phrase rule of thumb first became associated with domestic abuse in the 1970s, after which the spurious legal definition was cited as factual in a number of law journals, and the United States Commission on Civil Rights published a report on domestic abuse titled "Under the Rule of Thumb" in 1982. Some efforts were made to discourage the phrase, which was seen as taboo owing to this false origin. During the 1990s, several authors correctly identified the spurious etymology; however, the connection to domestic violence was cited in some legal sources even into the early 2000s.

Examples of use of rule of thumb
1. Only once has this rule of thumb proved misleading.
2. "As a rule of thumb, you should never mix your assets with your liabilities.
3. According to a rule of thumb developed by Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the U.S.
4. However, as a simple rule of thumb, the bigger the EU budget, the bigger the rebate.
5. Nice has a rule of thumb using QALYs, or quality–adjusted life years.