Are these for real?

[davpat]

Are these genuine? 1.In the 1400's a law was set forth in England that a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have 'the rule of thumb' 2.Many years ago in Scotland , a new game was invented. It was ruled 'Gentlemen Only...Ladies Forbidden'...and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language. 3. In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts... So in old England , when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them > 'Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down.' It's where we get the phrase 'mind your P's and Q's' 4. Many years ago in England , pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. 'Wet your whistle' is the phrase inspired by this practice.

[Bellringer]

1) Yes
2) No
3 & 4 doubtful

[andy-hughes]

As far as 9�0 is concerned - this is one explanation - another is that the letter 'p' and the letter 'q' are similiar, and easy to transpose, so clerks were always reminded to watch out for that.

[dundurn]

I don't believe the rule of thumb one - a rule of thumb measure or solution is where you judge that near enough is good enough. So it's the sort of solution you'd get if instead of using an accurate measuring device you counted off thumb-widths or thumb-lengths in the same way that cubits, spans, ells and hands are all standardised versions of old "body parts" measurements that would have been individual to each craftsman.

Golf originated in the Dutch word kolf. This is a different game but with distinct similarities. Even the kliek, the club used in the Dutch game gave its name to the cleek, the ancestor of the 1 iron. Golf originated on the (fairly) flat "links" areas bordering on the Forth estuary, areas in regular touch with the Low Countries all through the Middle Ages and having many families who had members in both Scotland and Flanders.

Ps and Qs has got several versions. My personal favourite is that it resulted from children being told to "mind" (i.e. remember) their Please and Thank Yous when visiting other peoples' homes. I don't think there's a "true" answer out there for this one.

It's hard to whistle if your mouth is dry. Wet your whistle is just a way of alluding to this when offering someone a drink.

[Postdog]

Just to add to andy's, I've heard that with printers, who in the old days actually used metal typesets. a "p" and a "q" would be seen back to front as it were (so it printed right) and it would be very easy to confuse them.

[Postdog]

oh, and wet your whistle, well it is easier to whistle when lups are wet.

[smorodina]

All unlikely, as the reliable Michael Quinion shows:

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-rul1.htm
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-gol1.htm
http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/psandqs .htm
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-wet1.htm