Rule Of Thumb Research Paper

A generalization can be defined as “… taking one or a few facts, and making a broader, more universal statement” (text from vocabulary.com). Much like generalizing, rule of thumb utilizes similar properties. Most people use the rule of thumb to acquire beginners advise in a field they aren’t familiar with. Aside from today’s meaning of the phrase, in the past, most people understood this proverb by its literal connotation. The thumb itself was used as a ruler, thermometer, and an alignment. However, the practicality and use of the rule of thumb weren’t the only meanings it had; a dark and unexpected past was also attached to the familiar phrase. The validity of this figure of speech is contingent upon its continuous use in the past and today.

A man was permitted to beat his wife so long as the stick he used was no wider than the size of his thumb. An account of this phrase was included in Massachusetts in the Women Suffrage Movement by Harriet R. Robinson. Robinson included sentences like “By the English common law, her husband was her lord and master.” This sentence was legally true. Because a man’s words were the law, women became subordinate to men. Women had little to no say over what their husband did and in turn triggered many accounts of assault and battery. In the 1868 case of State v. Rhodes, A man was found not guilty after beating his wife with a device no wider than the size of his thumb. This outcome was determined as so based off of English common law rule of thumb. The court systems today no longer allow this type of savagery and have thus made laws against domestic

Today’s meaning of the phrase is a rough estimation according to practicality. The majority of people use it as a starting point to an event they may be unfamiliar with. Besides average use of the phrase, it has also been seen in a small amount of Hollywood movies. In 1999, part of Connor MacManus’s script of The Boondock Saints was a twisted-humorous remark regarding the rule of thumb that goes as follows, “Rule of thumb? Can't do much damage with that thing, can we. Perhaps it should have been the rule of wrist.” This twisted statement is implying that using the width of a wrist instead of a thumb will cause more damage when beating your wife. Despite the phrase’s multiple meanings, it is undeniably true that domestic violence also occurred under the rule of thumb. Women couldn’t do much to avoid the issue and the then infamous phrase more often than not would allow a husband to beat his