Quote from: Proudhuff on 02 October, 2019, 10:31:35 AM
I thought the Rule of thumb was about the size of stick that could be used for a beating or servants... no thicker than your thumb.
"The 'rule of thumb' has been said to derive from the belief that English law allowed a man to beat his wife with a stick so long as it is was no thicker than his thumb.
In 1782, Judge Sir Francis Buller is reported as having made this legal ruling and in the following year James Gillray published a satirical cartoon attacking Buller and caricaturing him as 'Judge Thumb'. The cartoon shows a man beating a fleeing woman and Buller carrying two bundles of sticks. The caption reads "thumbsticks - for family correction: warranted lawful!""
https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/rule-of-thumb.html

