Article: Rules of Thumb, or DeRoTs

We all have heard of the phrase "rule of thumb," or "rules of thumb." Generally, this means a widely applicable process that is often used, even if it is not always.

It is often fun to try to find out where phrases like "rule of thumb" come from. In today's world, if a person wants to find something out, they often "Google it." (Do you suppose in 100 years someone will write about googling and wonder where that funny word came from?).

At any rate, if you Google "rule of thumb" you will find there are many explanations about where the phrase came from-everything from violence (proper thickness of a stick used to discipline someone or something), to physical measurement (distance between the ...

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