편입영어 스토리 이디엄 : rule of thumb

2. rule of thumb

의 미 : 어림짐작, 일반적인 경험 rough measure, a basic rule based on experience) /  경험에 의하여 체득된 지식 및 법칙을 말하는 것으로 실험법칙이라고도 한다.

* by [the] rule of thumb, as a rule of thumb 일반적으로, 경험상으로

ex)

- As a rule of thumb, plant tomato seeds three inches deep.

 일반적으로 토마토 씨는 땅 속 3인치 깊이에 심어라.

- One handy rule of thumb is that cough plus fever, in a community where the flu is already circulating, equals flu around 80 percent of the time, says Dr. Pat Salber, a San Francisco-based emergency room internist.  [ Lifehacker Australia ]

- In politics, the rule of thumb has long been that negative campaigning generates traction. [Drovers Magazine ]

- Tina B. Tessina, PhD, psychotherapist and author, told Prevention that as a general rule-of-thumb, "most women cheat because they feel emotionally deprived, and men are unfaithful because they often feel sexually deprived." [ Elite Daily ]

- As a _______ of the thumb, a cup of filtered coffee contains about 80 of caffeine. [한양대]

(A) rule                                      

(B) fact

(C) matter                                   

(D) principle

- The goal was to identify and adopt, for every job, the one best method of work and thereby to effect the gradual substitution of science for rule of thumb throughout the mechanic arts. [고려대] 

Choose the one closest in meaning to the underlined part.

① to replace outdated factory facilities with cutting-edge business equipment

② to substitute automated machinery for manual labor

③ to substitute high-tech procedures for labor intensive jobs

④ to replace conventional ways of working with the systematic management of labor

- In contrast to an official rule or an exact measurement, ________ is a general principle or a rough estimate that has been shown by experience to work. [건국대]

(A) a rule of thumb                        

(B) sleight of hand

(C) a rod of iron                           

(D) measure for measure

(E) the law of the jungle

유 래 :

옛날 영국에서는 남편이 부인을 때리는 것을 허용했다(be allowed, tolerated). 그러나 자기 엄지손가락보다 굵은 막대기로 구타하는 것은 위법이었다(illegal for a man to beat his wife with any wooden sticks thicker than his thumb). Rule of thumb 은 경험상 맞기는 하지만 정확하지는 않은 경우를 말한다.

2018/01/11 - [English Story] - 편입영어 스토리 이디엄 : ring true , ring a bell