#10. "Rule of Thumb"
Now Means:
A common or ubiquitous benchmark. As in, "The rule of thumb is one part tonic to four parts gin."
Most say it came from ...
17th century English Judge Sir Francis Buller, who allegedly ruled that it was A-OK for a husband to beat his wife with a stick, given that said stick was no wider then his thumb.
This is the stuff that white trash dreams are made of.
So is that true?
As it turns out there isn't any record of Buller actually making this ruling, though he was known to be a big powdered wig-wearing dickhead to everyone around him regardless of sex. Still, roughly a year after the supposed ruling, British satirist James Gillray called out Buller in this cartoon, selling his thumb-width wife beating sticks:
__________________ Lisa, Mom to Curri Bee   Vindi Loo  Tikka Masala   Sugar Baby |