No problem. Being respectful is always to be lauded and that was your intent. Etymology is an armchair hobby of mine, and what's really frustrating is when you hear "the origin of x is y" and it seems really interesting, it's also usually wrong.
For instance, just last night I saw an ad for some show on History or Discovery or something that talked about how in this particular western town the price of a bullet was 20 cents and the bartender would trade customers a little bit of whiskey for each bullet and that's how it came to be known as a "shot". So I quickly whipped out the OED and found references to a "shot" of a liquid predating the American old west. Ah well. It sounded neat and it's a great folktale. -Kevin ----- Original Message ----- From: "Adam Churvis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "CF-Community" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 2003 7:40 PM Subject: Re: Rule of Thumb (was Re: Wine help) > I stand corrected! Thanks for clearing this up for me. > > Respectfully, > > Adam Phillip Churvis > Member of Team Macromedia > > Advanced Intensive ColdFusion MX Training > ColdFusion MX Master Class: > September 22 - 26, 2003 > http://www.ColdFusionTraining.com > > Download CommerceBlocks V2.1 and LoRCAT from > http://www.ProductivityEnhancement.com > > The ColdFusion MX Bible is in bookstores now! > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Kevin Graeme" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "CF-Community" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 2003 7:10 PM > Subject: Rule of Thumb (was Re: Wine help) > > > > > You know, I thought the very same thing until I saw it repeated in the > > movie > > > "Boondock Saints." Just blew me away that it was anything more than > legal > > > trivia. Apparently there are some women that are very offended by the > > term, > > > so out of respect I don't use it anymore. Still have to catch myself, > > > though. > > > > As I said before, the origin of the phrase had nothing to do with wife > > beating. From the OED: > > > > Rule of Thumb: > > > > 1. A method or procedure derived entirely from practice or experience, > > without any basis in scientific knowledge; a roughly practical method. > Also, > > a particular stated rule that is based on practice or experience. > > > > 1692 SIR W. HOPE Fencing-Master 157 What he doth, he doth by rule of > > Thumb, and not by Art. 1721 KELLY Scot. Prov. 257 No Rule so good as Rule > of > > Thumb, if it hit. 1785 GROSE Dict. Vulgar T., Thumb, by rule of thumb, to > do > > a thing by dint of practice. 1802 Sporting Mag. XX. 17 Too often did she > > apportion the drugs by the rule of thumb. 1865 M. ARNOLD Ess. Crit. v. 159 > > The English..have in all their changes proceeded, to use a familiar > > expression, by the rule of thumb... > > > > Also, people who were against the disciplines of science and mathematics > > were referred to as "thumbites". > > > > There is some moderately recent history though in which courts mistakenly > > made the attribution, one in North Carolina, but it's not the actual > origin > > of the term. Even judges can be wrong. > > > > http://dynamic.uoregon.edu/~jjf/essays/ruleofthumb.html > > http://www.straightdope.com/columns/000512.html > > > > While I agree that abuse against women should not be condoned, I > personally > > prefer to respect and preserve the original and intended use of the > language > > rather than excise a term because of an urban legend. > > > > -Kevin > > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm?link=t:5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm?link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Your ad could be here. Monies from ads go to support these lists and provide more resources for the community. http://www.fusionauthority.com/ads.cfm
