5 ms·

Snopes disagrees, maybe why they removed it: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/picnic-origin/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/picnic-origin/

• hn_throwaway_99 5y ago
  The "rule of thumb" etymology is also bullshit but it's still there: https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1998-04-17-1998107056-story.html https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1998-04-17-19981070...
  • lallysingh 5y ago
    Reading that, it wasn't established last, but I didn't find any other definition for that term in the article. I'm pretty groggy, did I miss it?
    • hn_throwaway_99 5y ago
      From the link: The false etymology persists despite the Oxford English Dictionary definition: "A method or procedure derived entirely from practice or experience, without any basis in scientific knowledge; a roughly practical method." The OED dates the phrase's first reference to 1692. In the Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, "rule of thumb" is additionally defined as a method by which brewers once tested the temperature of a batch of beer: They dipped a thumb in the brew.