According to "Word origin" @ uselessknowledge
"Rule of Thumb"
The phrase is almost certainly an allusion
to the fact that the first joint an adult
thumb measures roughly one inch,
literally a rule (or ruler) of thumb. Since
human dimensions vary, any
measurement so taken would be only a rough approximation
and not to be trusted where precision was required.
The most commonly connected tale with this story is that
the
original rule of thumb appeared in English Common Law. The
law said that a man could not beat his wife with a stick
that
was thicker than his thumb. Beating her with smaller
sticks
was permitted, and in some regions encouraged, to keep the
woman in her place.
While it was certainly true that in many places in the
past
(and unfortunately to this present day), men were
permitted
to beat their wives, but this so-called rule was never
codified.
In fact, this explanation does not appear until relatively
recently and its appearances are in American courts that
claim
such an old English law exists without citing it
specifically.
Blackstone in Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765)
writes, "the husband also (by the old law) might give his
wife
moderate correction. [...] But this power of correction
was
confined within reasonable bounds; and the husband was
prohibited to use any violence to his wife, aliter quam ad
virum, ex causa regiminis et castigationis uxoris suae,
licited et
rationabiliter pertinet (other than what is reasonably
necessary to the discipline and correction of the wife).
The
civil law gave the husband the same, or a larger,
authority
over his wife; allowing him, for some misdemeanors,
flagellis et
fustibus acriter verbare uxorem (to wound his wife
severely
with whips and fists); for others, only modicam
castigationem
adhibere (to apply modest corrective punishment)." No
mention of thumbs at all.
There are three mentions of this supposed doctrine in
American case law:
Bradley v. The State (1 Miss. (1 Walker) 156 (1824))
upholds
the doctrine and cites a Justice Raymond as the source for
the doctrine. This Raymond is probably Lord Robert
Raymond,
a judge on the King's Bench from 1724-1733. Despite the
Mississippi court's ruling, no one has found any of
Raymond's
rulings that relate to such a doctrine. In 1868, State v.
A.B.
Rhodes (61 N.C. 453) the jury found "that the defendant
struck Elizabeth Rhodes, his wife, three licks, with a
switch
about the size of his fingers (but not as large as a man's
thumb) without any provocation except some words uttered
by her and not recollected by the witness." The judgment
was
appealed and upheld, but the appellate court ruled "It is
not
true [...] that a husband has a right to whip his wife.
And if he
had, it is not easily seen how the thumb is the standard
of
size for the instrument which he may use, as some of the
old
authorities have said; and in deference to which was his
Honor's charge. [...] The standard is the effect produced,
and
not the manner of producing it, or the instrument used."
While
"old authorities" are claimed, they are not cited.
In 1873, State v. Richard Oliver (70 N.C. 60) states that
"we
may assume that the old doctrine that a husband had a
right
to whip his wife, provided he used a switch no larger than
his
thumb, is not law in North Carolina." The closest anyone
has
come to identifying such a rule in English law is a
supposed
opinion of Francis Buller, a judge on the English bench
from
1778 to 1800. In 1782, Buller held the opinion (it's not
clear
whether his was a legal ruling or just a publicly stated
opinion)
that a man had the right to beat his wife. He was widely
castigated in public and called such epithets as "Judge
Thumb." The reaction to Buller's opinion makes it clear
that
this was not a widely held right.
So, what we have is a single English judge who in 1782
(probably) held that a man could beat his wife with a
stick
narrower than his thumb. Since, according to the Oxford
English Dictionary, 2nd Edition, the phrase dates from at
least
1692, this is probably not the origin of the phrase. "
Credit for the legal research goes to Sharon Fenick who
posted it to alt.folklore.urban in 1996.
"Word and Phrase Origins" are copyrighted by David Wilton
http://www.uselessknowledge.com/word/rule.shtml
rw wrote:
> yeah! loved the www.thumb.com site. Very busy indeed. I saw Thumb Wars on
> TV, VERY funny.
>
> About the term, "rule of thumb", does anybody know where it comes from? I
> have heard (but not verified) that it came way back long ago from England (?
> or elsewhere), and it was because a man could beat his wife, but only if the
> stick he used was no bigger around than his thumb...
>
> So unfortunately this term may have had a bad past... :o(
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