There are several spoken and unspoken rules that we follow in our lives and sometimes these rules even dictate our lives. One such well-versed rule is the “Rule of Thumb”. Some examples of the use of this rule can be our daily activities that we stick to like: going for a daily run and having a constant feeling of financial stability. How did this rule come into being? Also, how is it associated with domestic violence against women?
The rule is hundreds of years old and is still used as an informal rule. Though the origin of the “Rule of Thumb” is from a harmless source and intentions, somewhere in the 18th century it was derived as a rule that allowed men to beat their wives. Some say that this association is due to some derivations done in a murky way. Here we will see how a rule whose origin is considered rather innocuous turned into a violent one.
Origin of the Rule of Thumb
The earliest known or recorded use of this expression is from the 17th century. However, the exact time or period when the Rule of Thumb first came into being is still not clear. In the book titled Origin of the Specious: Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language, the rule was first mentioned by James Durham, a Scottish preacher. During his preaching in the late 1600s, he once preached that many protest Christians are like foolish builders who build by guess and by the Rule of thumb and not by Square and Rule.
We can also see various examples of its use in documents from the 17th and 18th centuries. One more prominent example of its use is from Sir William Hope’s “The Compleat Fencing Master” written in 1692. His writing loosely translates as “What he taught, he taught by the rule of thumb and not by Art.” Moreover, Kelly’s Scottish Proverbs from 1721 mentions a line “Not rule as good as Rule of Thumb”.
The phrase might had much older roots and maybe was first used as a unit of measurement. As Origin of the Specious explains, the word “rule” in the Rule of Thumb is for measuring units like a stick or a scale. Now the question is if the Rule of Thumb was just an innocent unit of measurement then how did it get contemplated as something related to domestic violence?
The First misinterpretation of the Rule
There was a report published by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights addressing the domestic abuse of women in 1982. The report was titled “Under the Rule of Thumb: Battered Women and the Administration of Justice”. This report was a result of what Francis Buller, an 18th-century English Judge once did.
It was over 200 years before this report that Buller passed the ruling in favor of husbands beating their wives. However, in his ruling, he mentioned that it was only allowed if the man was using a stick or a rod that was as long as their thumb. But, there was a controversy about this ruling as there are no records of Buller saying anything of this sort. Still, the media made a huge deal out of it and mocked Buller in the press.
In 1782, a political caricaturist who worked for The New York Times, James Gillary, drew Buller’s cartoon. It showed Buller carrying some wooden logs or sticks and handing them out as winter presents for those who are looking for a cure for their nasty wives. The caricature also included a man beating his wife while she screamed “Murder” and the man just replies that it’s not a murder but a law because the stick is smaller than his thumb.
Due to this caricature, Francis was forever tagged with this rule and the rule also took on a new life. Anyway, there was no proof that Buller or his ruling mentioned something like that. Still, according to the Origin of Specious, at least 3 judges from the 19th century cited him.
Rule of Thumb’s association with Domestic Violence
The phrase and how it got associated with this evil of society is murky. But, the Origin of Specious suggests that it happened first in 1976. Del Martin, a feminist, used the phrase as a pun in his report about violence against women. In the years that followed, both domestic violence and the Rule of Thumb started getting knitted together more often. And then at one point, people were getting called out as misogynists if they used the phrase anywhere.
However, the truth is, that the Rule of Thumb has got nothing to do with domestic violence. It was merely a unit of measurement just like we use meters or inches. And then one day, a ruling made by a judge, which is still controversial, somehow linked the phrase with a social evil, domestic violence.
This association, though fake, is a subtle urge that look up famous phrases before we put them into use.
Also read: The Disturbing Origins Of The ‘African Dodger’ Game: A Look Into Racist Carnival Games
