
The ‘Rule of Thumb’ is known all over the world, and a common myth is that it came from the size of stick one was legally allowed to use in wife beatings. In one language it’s called, ‘Regola del police.’ In another it’s, ‘Tommelfingerregel.’ Basically though, and in whatever language, it loosely defines ‘an idea or procedure that works in most circumstances.’ And this is where it starts to get a little sideways.
For example, if you were trying to build a fire, and you put wadded newspaper as your base, then placed kindling on top, you may be using a ‘Rule of Thumb’ for fire building. However, you might bypass the newspaper, and douse the tinder with gasoline. That might also be a ‘Rule of Thumb.’ One might be a rule for indoor fires while the other for outdoor fires, or maybe fuel is reserved for burning wood that’s a little damp. You see, there is no set rule for a procedure so old that cave people were doing it thousands of years before Jesus!
And, this applies to nearly everything! There’s a ‘Rule of Thumb’ for cooking an oven-bake pizza, for mowing your lawn, for baiting a fishhook, and for filling out your taxes! And, what this really means, is that there are no rules at all, because everyone does shit the way they think is going to work best for them in the particular circumstance in which they’re dealing!
Even in sports, where it seems like there’s a rule for everything, there are ‘Rules of Thumb’ within those rules. How to best pitch a curve ball, how to return a serve, how to exaggerate a fall so the refs will call a foul. The list goes on and on!
Now, the ‘Rule of Thumb’ actually comes from before the invention of set measurements like inches and centimeters. People measured things with their fingers and thumbs, and other parts, which makes no sense because people’s fingers, thumbs and other parts were, and still are, different sizes, which means there was no real rule for measuring shit! It was all what someone thought was going to work best for the particular situation. And isn’t that the way life really is?
In fact, because the ‘Rule of Thumb’ really means no set rules at all, doesn’t that make ‘The Rule of Thumb’ an oxymoron? Because, if there’s a rule that says there are no rules, then how can there really be a rule about no rules in the first place? Now I’m getting confused. I’m just glad they didn’t name it, ‘The Rule of Scrotum.’
OM
For example, if you were trying to build a fire, and you put wadded newspaper as your base, then placed kindling on top, you may be using a ‘Rule of Thumb’ for fire building. However, you might bypass the newspaper, and douse the tinder with gasoline. That might also be a ‘Rule of Thumb.’ One might be a rule for indoor fires while the other for outdoor fires, or maybe fuel is reserved for burning wood that’s a little damp. You see, there is no set rule for a procedure so old that cave people were doing it thousands of years before Jesus!
And, this applies to nearly everything! There’s a ‘Rule of Thumb’ for cooking an oven-bake pizza, for mowing your lawn, for baiting a fishhook, and for filling out your taxes! And, what this really means, is that there are no rules at all, because everyone does shit the way they think is going to work best for them in the particular circumstance in which they’re dealing!
Even in sports, where it seems like there’s a rule for everything, there are ‘Rules of Thumb’ within those rules. How to best pitch a curve ball, how to return a serve, how to exaggerate a fall so the refs will call a foul. The list goes on and on!
Now, the ‘Rule of Thumb’ actually comes from before the invention of set measurements like inches and centimeters. People measured things with their fingers and thumbs, and other parts, which makes no sense because people’s fingers, thumbs and other parts were, and still are, different sizes, which means there was no real rule for measuring shit! It was all what someone thought was going to work best for the particular situation. And isn’t that the way life really is?
In fact, because the ‘Rule of Thumb’ really means no set rules at all, doesn’t that make ‘The Rule of Thumb’ an oxymoron? Because, if there’s a rule that says there are no rules, then how can there really be a rule about no rules in the first place? Now I’m getting confused. I’m just glad they didn’t name it, ‘The Rule of Scrotum.’
OM