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- Go to K, Bloggers, the Proof is in the Pudding. Wanna Know What’s in the Pudding?
I understand, Mary x. Some things are important
to get the truth out.
posted by
SpitFire70
on April 7, 2005 at 8:33 PM
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Spitfire,
yeah, I know I sound like an anal retentitive freak over this. The reason I make such an issue of it is that I believed it and everyone I know believed it. It's quoted all over and it leaves the impression that men had a law written specifically to enforce and regulate their authority to beat their wives, and feminists everywhere use it to rally the troops as to how vile men really are. I'm not saying things were perfect, but just that that isn't the case.
posted by
Blanche.
on April 7, 2005 at 4:45 PM
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mary x, thanks!
I really don't take anything I read from the internet or elsewhere as proof positive fact unless it has sources. Really, this was just a humor based blog. If I was posting an info-type blog, I would have checked sources before posting. I really didn't care to for this, cause like I said, it was just meant for humor.
posted by
SpitFire70
on April 7, 2005 at 3:46 PM
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Hi Spitfire,
It's funny about the "Rule of Thumb" thing, because my boyfriend had done research on that before, and when we met, my roommate brought that up and they had a whole debate about it, so when you brought that up last night, I asked him to prove what he had told me, that it had no basis in English or American law. We went to the sites I mentioned (actually, he wrote that, and I edited it to make sure he didn't get insulting).
I went to your site, Antimoon, they don't give any sources. What's interesting in the "About Us" page, they describe themselves as two native-born Polsih speakers who've developed a method for teaching English very fast. So, they're English skills are good, but I'd still stick with the Blackstone's Common Law and the Oxford English Dicty, both refute it.
posted by
Blanche.
on April 7, 2005 at 2:33 PM
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katray, all this food for thought is making me tummy growl.
Now I'm hungry! Hmmm, pudding sounds good about now!
posted by
SpitFire70
on April 7, 2005 at 1:27 PM
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Groucho,
While I was writing this last night, I got up to get a drink and was trying to think of a few such sayings when proof is in the pudding popped right into my head. Maybe that's when you were thinking about it and I "heard" you. hehe. Thanks for the origin!! (Really, it was just a humor blog, but it's always interesting to learn about stuff like this!)
posted by
SpitFire70
on April 7, 2005 at 1:27 PM
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Lol, this is great Spitfire, much "food for thought"...
posted by
Katray2
on April 7, 2005 at 6:03 AM
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Spitfire you Witch (again!)
how DO you do it? I was literally just thinking about this phrase yesterday evening, Lord knows why, and here you are with it. I did find out about this too here's what I pulled:
The proof is in the pudding
| Meaning: | The end result or finished product is determines success or failure. |
| Example: | Although we've made great progress arranging the party, the proof is in the pudding. |
| Origin: | This is an abbreviated version of the term "the proof of the pudding is in the eating". To the British, pudding means the same as dessert in the US. The point of the term is that one cannot determine how good a dessert will be during preparation or based on appearance. How good a dessert will be can only be determined by the final taste. |
posted by
tbgroucho
on April 7, 2005 at 5:16 AM
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Well, thanks, mary-x. Here's where I found that explanation:
http://www.antimoon.com/forum/2004/5798.htm whether it's right or wrong, who knows!
posted by
SpitFire70
on April 7, 2005 at 1:30 AM
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spitfire
A quick 30-second trip to the Google thoroughly disproves this "Old wives' tale". The OED (Oxford English Dictionary) describes "rule of thumb" as any generalization or rought estimate". The contributor to the web site "wide world of words" explains that this is what he calls folk etymology", a reverse explanation of a word or phrase. He explains that it's a common tendency of craftsmen to use whatever was "on hand" in their measurements. (A foot was, literally, a foot; a hand, the measure of horses was, literally, a hand; and a yard was the distance from the tip of your nose to the index finger).
On the treatise on English common law, no mention has ever been found referring to what, how big, or how often a man could beat his wife. The English were, in fact, far ahead of the US in protections for spouses. They were allowed to divorce, own property & vote decades before their American counterparts.
Check out Thestraightdope.com or the book "POSH; Portside Outbound, Starboard Homeward and Other Language Myths". Google also has a search engine for expressions & sayings.
posted by
Blanche.
on April 7, 2005 at 1:21 AM
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Yes, mary-x, very weird, but true as far as I've researched it.
Glad it doesnt' still ring true as law!!!!
posted by
SpitFire70
on April 7, 2005 at 12:00 AM
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Oh, Whammie, you just know me too well.
However, I wonder if you really were just curious to know what was in
my pudding! Oh yeah, bay-bay!! hehe! **flattering myself**
posted by
SpitFire70
on April 6, 2005 at 11:59 PM
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Spitfire,
I like quirky etymology, too. I don't know about lickety split or the proof is in the pudding, but "rule of thumb' has been widely misquoted. I don't know how it got started, but it's been around for a while. A thumb was used as a standard unit of measurement in Old England, but there's no actual statute stating that it's okay for a man to beat his wife with any limitations. Ironically, probably because, since wives were considered property of their husbands until the 19th century, there was no thought of limiting the object used to beat them with. Weird, huh?
posted by
Blanche.
on April 6, 2005 at 11:39 PM
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SpitFire,
You are a woman with deep thoughts!
posted by
WHAMENATOR
on April 6, 2005 at 11:31 PM
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Rach, more than you'll admit to, ya mean!
Damn, Girl. If I actually admitted to all the shit that runs through my mind, I'd be locked up for sure. Seriously, I can't help it, though. I wonder about so many things and then I wonder why it seems so many others don't wonder about them! Oy! It's a contant vicious cycle in my head! Help! Let me out!
posted by
SpitFire70
on April 6, 2005 at 10:46 PM
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lol
Wow... You think about things way more than I do! :)
posted by
RachelAnna
on April 6, 2005 at 9:57 PM
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HolyG, good thing we didn't "know" what it meant back then!!
Or did we??
posted by
SpitFire70
on April 6, 2005 at 9:45 PM
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My head hurts a little now, but I like knowing where rule of thumb came from!
posted by
Holy_Grail
on April 6, 2005 at 8:35 PM
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Spitfire
You're right!
posted by
ladyofshalott
on April 6, 2005 at 7:19 PM
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LadyofS, you just like the "licking" part!!
I know you too well!!!
posted by
SpitFire70
on April 6, 2005 at 7:15 PM
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Spitfire
I think "A word to the wise" means giving info to someone who already thinks they know it all. Lickidy split, I likey that one
posted by
ladyofshalott
on April 6, 2005 at 7:13 PM
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