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Episode #37 – “Rule of Thumb” Origin Outrage & the Latest in Words You Should Know
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Approximate transcript:
Welcome to episode number 37, where we’ll dive into the question that lingers on so many minds: is the proverbial “rule of thumb” connected with beating one’s wife? Yeah, you heard me right. The rumor’s there. It lingers in college classrooms and in magazine articles. Discussions question its validity. Some argue it couldn’t be true. Or could it? Stay tuned for more on that one, and let’s see if we can put our finger on the truth. Too much? Maybe … But first …
The Latest in Word, Language & Writing News
So you’ve probably gathered that I find technology fascinating. And you simply can’t talk about contemporary language news without discussing this area of reaearch and innovation, because when we’re looking at the way we speak, how our language will be preserved, and where its future is going, technology is a big piece of the conversation.
Of course, I also have this theory that linguists of the future or maybe the etymologically curious researchers hundreds of years from now will have questions about the linkages between former president Donald Trump and idioms such as “playing the trump card” and “trumped-up charges”—and no matter what direction you lean politically, you’ve got to admit, someone’s going to be confused about this in the future … but that’s beside the point of things.
The two news stories I wanted to touch upon today are these:
First, reading isn’t just a way to cram facts into your brain. It’s a way to rewire how your brain works in general. And I’m not talking about hacking fruit flies like in last episode, Reading, by itself and I quote from a recent article in Inc., “strengthens your ability to imagine alternative paths, remember details, picture detailed scenes, and think through complex problems. In short, reading makes you not just more knowledgeable, but also functionally smarter.”
So, yeah, get your word on folks. Dive into stories. You’ll be all the better for it. Links to the specific research points are available in this episode’s show notes:
- “This Is How Reading Rewires Your Brain, According to Neuroscience” (Inc., 2/22/21)
- “New Study: Reading Fiction Really Will Make You Nicer and More Empathetic” (Inc., 1/25/19)
- “This Is What a Great Book Does to Your Brain” (Inc., 9/24/18)
And speaking of all the better for it—maybe this works as a segue, I’m not quite sure. Are robots getting all the better at their storytelling? Okay, I’m not talking Rosie from the Jetsons sitting down with a stylus on her screen of choice, but Artificial Intelligence is being put to the test—perhaps for the first time ever—when it comes to playwrighting. AI scriptwriting has had its own tests, but on Friday, February 26, 2021, the Czech Centre London in partnership with Prague’s Švanda Theatre will witness the first-ever presentation of a show written entirely by artificial intelligence, specifically GPT-2 trained extensively on existing theatre scripts. There are so many extra notes to highlight here. Yes, this is GPT-2, an earlier version than the GPT-3 technology that has been all over the linguistic and/or technological newsfeeds for the past year. But my favorite part of this is that this show is also to celebrate the one-hundred-year anniversary of the Czech playwright Karel Čapek’s play R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots), which originated the term “robot.” You heard that right. If you didn’t know, the English word “robot” comes from the Czech language, a word meaning “forced labor” or sometimes translated “to work hard.”
And on the one hundredth anniversary of a play about robots written by a man, we have a play about men written by robots. What will the reviews say? Stay tuned for that.
English Language History & Trivia
But today’s episode isn’t about brain science or artificial intelligence. It might be about a misogynistic legal system, or it might be about more fake language news. Maybe a bit of both, actually.
Have you ever wondered about the origin of the phrase “rule of thumb”? As in, the rule of thumb for buying a house or semicolon usage? (Which is harder? You decide.)
The phrase, “rule of thumb,” as we know means a general principle regarded as correct or understood, but what’s the deal with this thumb? Whose thumb are we talking about and why is it the guide for our decisions?
The problem here is in the connection with the “rule of thumb” idiom and an eighteenth century British judge named Francis Buller. Bueller? Buller? Nope, much different Buller. This one was dubbed “Judge Thumb,” because he was rumored to have said that a man could beat his wife in punishment for misdeeds as long as the stick with which she was beaten was no thicker than his thumb. So, yeah. There’s that.
The truth of Judge Thumb’s reputation is a bit muddled in that it was largely built by famous political cartoonist James Gillray. So, caricaturists might not be the best source of evidence on the matter.
But then there’s some pretty terrible legal arguments on the U.S. side of the Atlantic as well. When discussing the “rule of thumb,” some point to the 1868 North Carolina legal battle of State v. Rhodes, where the judgement was decided, “His Honor was of opinion that the defendant had a right to whip his wife with a switch no longer than his thumb.” The case ultimately went to the State Supreme Court, but they dismissed the case on the basis that the involved husband had not actually harmed the wife substantially. So, um … thus, this court case allowed for beating one’s wife as long as there was no major or permanent damage. Right. Yikes.
It seems a bit damning when all of these historical cases start getting involved, but when we get down to it, the exact phrase “rule of thumb” was never used in theses cases. This wording of the “rule of thumb” never actually held any meaning that seemed to be connected with violence, punishment, or anything similar.
The “rule of thumb” phrase was much more likely connected to the idea of the simple usefulness of the thumb in so many situations. For example, brewers tested the temperature of a batch of beer by dipping their thumb in the brew. Thumbs could be used for estimating measurements of endless varieties, alignment, distance, rough “inches,” and beyond. The Oxford English dictionary agrees with this background story, noting that for over three hundred years, the phrase has been used to refer to measurements based on experience rather than exact science.
The earliest known use of “Rule of Thumb” in print appears to be a sermon printed in the publication Heaven Upon Earth in 1658. It read:
“Many profest Christians are like to foolish builders, who build by guess, and by rule of thumb and not by Square and Rule.”
So what does this sound like to you? Not domestic violence, surely.
Now, if we want to have the conversation about the accepted brutality of marital relations in past eras, brutality often accepted by various governments, oh there’s a discussion we can have. But, in the end of things, the “Rule of Thumb” likely shouldn’t be a part of the conversation. So that’s one positive, I suppose.
Were you getting nervous?
I know, when I was doing my research, I was getting nervous. Etymology, folks. Suspense. Tension. Horror. Hope. Panic. Relief. Who needs to read or write thrillers to feel the rush of adrenaline. Kidding … kind of.
Language Challenge
Turning to our language challenge, since we’re talking the “Rule of Thumb” today and lots of legalities, do you know the difference between “forbid,” “forebode,” and “verboten”?
For example, which one means simply prohibited? And which one is connected with the Old English word for prophecy?
The answers, as always, can be found on my website.
Personal Update:
If you’re a creative, like myself, sometimes you find yourself feeling drawn toward a new project here, a new project there. So many ideas, so little time. Or other times, maybe you feel the opposite, a desire to create but no clue what to create.
I’ve mentioned that I’ve been in the midst of a virtual cross-country book tour with my third book, The Family Story Workbook, in partnership with indie bookstores. Shout-out to Book No Further in Roanoke, Virginia, where I’m having an event this week; shout-out to Changing Hands Bookstore in Phoenix and Tempe, Arizona, who hosted me last week; and a final huzzah to the Boulder Bookstore in Colorado who invited me to be a part of your Author Q&A video series. Talk about creativity in action in these strange times.
But back to that idea of new projects. I’ve had something niggling at the back of my mind for nearly a year now that I haven’t allowed myself the time to play with. But I’m officially allowing myself time to play with it. That’s all I’m sharing for now—I know, what a tease!—but a new cool, creative, research-heavy project might be underway. I’ll keep you updated as it develops further.
But as we wrap up today’s episode, I’ll leave you with this:
Spending in-depth time with words and stories can change your brain chemistry for the better. Human-made artificial intelligence is attempting to capture what it’s like to be human on the stage this week. History is full of cruelty and brutality, but at least not all language origin stories are. Sometimes, they’re just full of brewers sticking their thumbs in things. There could be worse things, I suppose. Is that its own rule of thumb? Probably not. But at least now you know what you’re talking about.
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Words. Language. Communications. We’ve got this.