Reply To: Rambam on Marriage

squeak,

Origin of the phrase rule of thumb:

It is often claimed that the term originally referred to a law that limited the maximum thickness of a stick with which it was permissible for a man to beat his wife, but this has been fully discredited as a hoax. Sir Francis Buller, a British judge, was alleged to have stated that a man may legally beat his wife, provided that he used a stick no thicker than his thumb. However, it is questionable whether Buller ever made such a pronouncement and there is even less evidence that he phrased it as a “rule of thumb”; The “rule of thumb” was referenced in at least four legal cases from 1782 to 1897, and in each of the known cases it was referred to only to state its invalidity, with one judge calling it “…a barbarous custom which modern authorities condemn.” “It’s certainly the case that, although British common law once held that it was legal for a man to chastise his wife in moderation, the ‘rule of thumb’ has never been the law in England.” In the modern period, this non-law gained popularity after feminist Del Martin wrote about it in 1976.