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<font size=3>For those of us who were taught more formally than to use a
"straightedge", it was "compass and rule". (A
few quotations associating the two in the OED -- although admittedly from
the long 18th-century. No, that's not when I learned
geometry. And for constructions Euclid did not allow the rule to be
ruled.)<br><br>
Joel<br><br>
At 7/3/2013 08:07 PM, Laurence Horn wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">On Jul 3, 2013, at 3:32 PM,
Wilson Gray wrote:<br><br>
> When I was in grade school, we called the ordinary foot-rulets that
we used<br>
> "rules." This was (is? also the usual BE word.<br><br>
Not familiar with this usage myself, but of course those of us (even
Northerners) of a certain age grew up using slide rules, which were never
slide rulers.<br><br>
LH<br><br>
> The trivial amount of<br>
> interest lies in the fact that these rulers were Coca-Cola gimmes.
On the<br>
> back of each ruler was the "Coca-Cola" logo and the
words:<br>
><br>
> A GOOD RULE<br>
> Do unto others as ye would have them do unto you<br>
><br>
> My impression is that this was meant as a pun - both the tool and
the adage<br>
> are "good rules" - and, given that Co-Cola is a Southern
company, perhaps<br>
> this "rule" instead of "ruler" was (is?) a
Southern regional use and not<br>
> just a black thing. This use of "rule" for
"ruler" isn't in DARE. But,<br>
><br>
> Youneverknow.<br>
><br>
> --<br>
> -Wilson<br>
> -----<br>
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange
complaint to<br>
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.<br>
> -Mark Twain<br>
><br>
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> The American Dialect Society -
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http://www.americandialect.org</a><br><br>
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The American Dialect Society -
<a href="http://www.americandialect.org/" eudora="autourl">
http://www.americandialect.org</a></font></blockquote></body>
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