where does the phrase rule of thumb originate from and what does it refer to?
609627
It DOES originate from the item a man would have been allowed to beat his wife with. If the item was smaller than his thumb, then he could beat her with it, but anything bigger than his thumb was not allowed!
1164503
this rule is not a rule at all.  there are many other exceptions:\n\nefficient\nspecies\ndeficiency\nand so on and so on....\n\nthis "rule", like so many one learns in one's high school english class, proves to be post facto, unsatisfactory explanation for a system that is far too rich and diverse to be explaned so simply.\nDon't buy it.
930831
Rules - means the rules of grammer or rules like a ruler or king rules.
1177695
There are several theories on the origin of the term. In the bar culture, it is attributed to Article 86 of the New York State Liquor Code. Article 86 specifically outlines the circumstances in which a bar patron should be refused alcohol or removed from the bar. In the restaurant culture, the theory goes back to the Great Depression and the soup kitchens. The legend goes that soup kitchens were limited to 85 patrons at a time so number 86 in line wouldn't receive food.\n\nA lesser known theory is that Cockney rhyming slang took the word nix and transformed it into "86'ed".
243843
Way back in the days of kings, measurements were parts of the king's body, and it changed from king to king, but was always similar. That's where a foot came from, it was the length of the king's foot. An inch was from the knuckle to the tip of the thumb. Then after awhile they realized this was innaccurate because if you had different kings yoru measurements were off, and when the king died you got new measurements, so then they standardized it. Then someone had a competition in France to see if someone could come up with a better system, and the metric system was the winner.
984
The rule of thumb is likely derived from the fact that people used the thumb as a measuring device. The length from the tip to the first knuckle is roughly an inch and perhaps the length of the inch is derived from this fact.
499282
U.K. origin. Means watch your pints & quarts to an ale drawer. Now it means to mind your manners.
29496
If you mean the origin of the "word" it means \n0(zero) Killed. It was used during the war and it was also symbolized with a thumb up.\nI've also heard that it comes from old English and O.K. were the initials for All Correct wich were suposed to be spelled Oll "Korrect" (O.K.). But the first choice is probably the korrect one.
141560
Nobody actually knows where that phrase comes from.  There is an urban legend about where it came from that can be found here: http://www.snopes.com/language/stories/brass.htm
703584
A piece of cake is an idiomatic expression which means  a job, task or other activity that is easy or simple to do. Such phrase has many origins. Contrary to the fact that cake is not easy to make, it could possibly  originated back to the ancient Greeks where a "cake" in those times was a toasted cereal bound together with honey, (thus too easy to make). It was given to the most vigilant man on night watch. Aristotle is quoted as having written in "The Knights": "if you surpass him in impudence, then we take the cake".\n\n`A piece of cake' also relate to the "good life" of sitting around at one's leisure eating dessert - rather than a reference to the ease of making and baking. \n\nTHAT'S A PIECE OF CAKE -- "Something that can be done easily and pleasurably. The light-verse writer Ogden Nash had this line in 'Primrose Path' (1936): 'Her picture's in the papers now, and life's a piece of cake.' The thought surely derives from the fact that for most people eating a piece of cake is easy and a pleasure." " From "The Dictionary of Cliches" by James Rogers (Ballantine Books, New York, 1985).\n\nHowever, the "Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins" by William and Mary Morris (HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 1977) give America the credit for originating the phrase. Mr. and Mrs. Morris also give the origin of "easy as pie." \nAccording to the Oxford Dictionary, it first appeared in print in a work by Ogden Nash, who wrote in 1936: 'Her picture's in the papers now, and life's a piece of cake.' But, if it first turned up in America, it was swiftly adopted by British airmen in World War II. In 1943 the author of 'Spitfires over Malta' wrote: 'The mass raids promised to be a 'piece of cake' and we expected to take a heavy toll.' Certainly 'piece of cake' was more originally more popular in Britain than in the United States."\n\nThe "Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings" by Gregory Y. Titelman states that: "It's a piece of cake -It's very easy to do. First used in the mid-twentieth century. During World War II, British soldiers used the expression to describe a mission that was extremely easy to accomplish."♥
11733
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, the reference book everyone should have at her or his fingertips, does not give an origin for this saying; however it does give as definitions or equivalents:\n"You cannot spend your money and yet keep it. You cannot serve both God and Mammon. You cannot have it both ways."
1004452
The phrase comes from a Norse (and then Middle English) verb that has been lost to us.  You might even trace the expression to the Greek verb "agein," which means "to lead," or maybe "agon," which is a contest.\n\nRegretably, it has nothing to do with eggs, egg products, or the laying of eggs.
747724
Its origin is Latin, cum grano salis, based on antidote to poison needing a grain of salt to work \n\nTo “take something with a grain of salt” is to view a statement with a skeptical attitude
1090857
The Oxford English Dictionary indicates that the phrase has been used for about 300 years to refer to measurements that are based on experience instead of exact science.\n\nThe "wife-beating" definition was made up by a feminist sometime in the 1970s.
1455
Its analogous to "every which way" or "as much/often as possible."  According to lastsource.com (which is linked below in cached form, as I was having trouble accessing the site), the phrase originated in Rome during the early days of Christianity:  In order to encourage Church-goers to show up to Mass on time, the parish priest would have the last person to arrive beaten mercilessly the other 6 days of the week.
853721
First Rule:  If it sounds too good to be than it is (too good to be true)\nSecond Rule:  Refer to First Rule.
213001
The key is "Carpe Deum" which means "seize the day" in English. This philosophy is very typical of a romantic thinker, who thinks that we should take advantage of every moment of life and live life to the fullest.\n\nPerhaps John Keating's name even stems from the famous John Keats, renowned for his romantic poetry.