[mkl]

Originally Posted by Bebe

I wasn't lied to. I have seen the law that includes this in New Zealand. It was only removed from NZ law books in the 1980s. It doesn't specifically mention thumbs, but this is what the section of the Act was called in common parlance.

Pretty much everyone agrees that it isn't from that.

Rule of thumb

Rule of Thumb and Wife-Beating - Mostly a Myth

The Straight Dope: Does "rule of thumb" refer to an old law permitting wife beating?

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-rul1.htm


http://www.debunker.com/texts/ruleofthumb.html

http://www.canlaw.com/rights/thumbrul.htm

http://tafkac.org/language/etymology/rule_of_thumb.html

http://userpages.umbc.edu/~korenman/...leofthumb.html

http://www.ifeminists.net/introducti...519wilson.html

http://womenshistory.about.com/od/my...e_of_thumb.htm