Post Something Interesting

Fiftyyearsandcounting said:
In the 1400s in England, a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence ‘the rule of thumb.’
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In English, the phrase rule of thumb refers to an approximate method for doing something, based on practical experience rather than theory. This usage of the phrase can be traced back to the 17th century and has been associated with various trades where quantities were measured by comparison to the width or length of a thumb.

A modern folk etymology holds that the phrase is derived from the maximum width of a stick allowed for wife-beating under English common law, but no such law ever existed.
 
When I lived in Kent a guy I worked with rang in sick with a bad leg. Unfortunately for him the local Dover Express ran a story of how a goalkeeper, playing for a local team, took a free kick in his own penalty area. This kick was so powerful it reached the opponent's penalty area, bounced over the keepers head and into the goal. Of course the keeper who took the kick was the guy who rang in sick with a bad leg lol.
 
paulchapo said:
When I lived in Kent a guy I worked with rang in sick with a bad leg. Unfortunately for him the local Dover Express ran a story of how a goalkeeper, playing for a local team, took a free kick in his own penalty area. This kick was so powerful it reached the opponent's penalty area, bounced over the keepers head and into the goal. Of course the keeper who took the kick was the guy who rang in sick with a bad leg lol.
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That's how he got his bad leg, aint it? :-)
 
AliBobbyJ said:
That's how he got his bad leg, aint it? :-)
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Ha the problem for him was the game was on the day he'd rang in with his excuse and played after his phone call. He came back to match reports and pictures of himself cut from the local rag all over the ship.
 
Bill Walker said:
In English, the phrase rule of thumb refers to an approximate method for doing something, based on practical experience rather than theory. This usage of the phrase can be traced back to the 17th century and has been associated with various trades where quantities were measured by comparison to the width or length of a thumb.

A modern folk etymology holds that the phrase is derived from the maximum width of a stick allowed for wife-beating under English common law, but no such law ever existed.
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I expect your explanation is the most reasonable. I chose this particular etymology at random from a list of several other suggestions which included-
A miller would roll flour between his thumbs to decide if it needed regrinding
Old seafarers did not trust the accuracy of charts so, to avoid hidden rocks, they would sail a thumbs width from the coastline.
As a point of interest, in North Carolina in 1868, in a case of wife beating, the husband was let off because "His Honor was of opinion that the defendant had a right to whip his wife with a switch no longer than his thumb". However, this was later repudiated as illegal by the state supreme court but, allowed did permit beatings "provided no permanent damage was caused".
 
The traditional concept was 'reasonable chastisement' as with kids. What is 'reasonable' varied with the times. Legally, it is what a jury considers a reasonable person would do.

A woman could get a separation from her husband for cruelty even in the middle ages. This was a matter for the church courts and to qualify she had to be of 'good character' that is, vouched to be obedient and not shrewish, a good attendee at church and so on. But the level of violence required we would think of as GBH or even attempted murder.
 
Bill Walker said:
In English, the phrase rule of thumb refers to an approximate method for doing something, based on practical experience rather than theory. This usage of the phrase can be traced back to the 17th century and has been associated with various trades where quantities were measured by comparison to the width or length of a thumb.

A modern folk etymology holds that the phrase is derived from the maximum width of a stick allowed for wife-beating under English common law, but no such law ever existed.
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A good rule of thumb is to double check any facts you get from this site.
 
Just because I've got a brew...

Despite coffee being used as the stereotypical pick me up drink, pound for pound there is more caffeine in tea than coffee.
 
Mablethorpe sea front has been privy to Ariel dog fights by two combatant fighter jets over the last week.

At around 17:00 hours they then both retreat inland at low speed to an unknown airbase. The seafront cafe we use for our daily full English has a chef whose brother works as ground crew for the RAF and he said they're practising low level combat flights for the Ukraine war and for security reasons cannot say anymore. The missus thinks he's been on the powder, but it's a daily occurance so who knows?

Anyone know of any military fields around here as flightradar isnt identiying the fighters.
 
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feelymcfeel said:
Just because I've got a brew...

Despite coffee being used as the stereotypical pick me up drink, pound for pound there is more caffeine in tea than coffee.
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That depends on the tea/coffee.

Coffee loses caffeination with roasting so the darker the roast, the less caffeine. If you get a hipster light roast that’s popular nowadays you’re getting a lot more caffeine than from dark roasted beans and grounds made popular by the Italian brands.

Similarly tea varies by altitude the plant is grown at. Darjeeling is famous for being grown high in the foothills of the Himalayas and it’s got very low caffeine content. Assam team is grown lower down in the river valleys near Bangladesh and at sea level and so it’s got almost 2x as much caffeine.


A powerful tea will have 70-80mg of caffeine which is comparable to light roasted coffee but more than a dark coffee.
 
Two Gun Bob said:
Mablethorpe sea front has been privy to Ariel dog fights by two combatant fighter jets over the last week.

At around 17:00 hours they then both retreat inland at low speed to an unknown airbase. The seafront cafe we use for our daily full English has a chef whose brother works as ground crew for the RAF and he said they're practising low level combat flights for the Ukraine war and for security reasons cannot say anymore.

The missus thinks he's been on the powder but it's a daily occurance so who knows?

Anyone of here know of any military fields close by as flight radar24 is not identifying the fighters.

A lot of head to head work eminating from Sutton on sea and as they close together, they accend at the sheer vertical with sonic booms..
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Probably Eurofighters based at Coningsby. Where you are talking about is within one of the military training areas. I should think there's no doubt that the crews are practicing combat manoeuvres probably in case of a potential encounter with the Russians in NATO airspace. They could also be training Ukraine pilots as it's public knowledge that NATO have promised fighter jets to Ukraine. It's a very dangerous situation at present and the potential of how quickly it could escalate shouldn't be under-estimated.
 
domalino said:
That depends on the tea/coffee.

Coffee loses caffeination with roasting so the darker the roast, the less caffeine. If you get a hipster light roast that’s popular nowadays you’re getting a lot more caffeine than from dark roasted beans and grounds made popular by the Italian brands.

Similarly tea varies by altitude the plant is grown at. Darjeeling is famous for being grown high in the foothills of the Himalayas and it’s got very low caffeine content. Assam team is grown lower down in the river valleys near Bangladesh and at sea level and so it’s got almost 2x as much caffeine.


A powerful tea will have 70-80mg of caffeine which is comparable to light roasted coffee but more than a dark coffee.
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caffeine has no flavour, same with alcohol, in my experience tannin is a factor in the taste, which stains porcelain and teeth, also, different tap water produces different flavours, Manchester tap water has a slightly alkaiine ph mostly as it is filters through limestone. zzzz
 
Had this debate with my neighbour the other day.
Should prestige cars, be renamed pretentious cars ?

His wife wants to spend $80k on a BMW X3 (or something) and he doesn't....and he was asking me what I thought.

He has a 2 year old Toyota RAV hybrid which is a lovely car. But wifey want's a badge with higher status.
 
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