A Conversation for Rulers

Isn't it called a 'rule'?

Post 1

Sho - employed again!

Back in the mists of time when I was a schoolgirl, we were rapped smartly accross the knuckles with one of these offending objects whenever we referred to it as a ruler. This punishment was usually accompanied by the English teacher shouting "It's a RULE! Queen Elizabeth is a rulER!"

Plus. I thought they had a general length of 30cms?


Isn't it called a 'rule'?

Post 2

Sho - employed again!

Sorry to be picky, but also it might have been nice to mention their uses in art (using and scraping the edges in paint etc)

And furthermore, a description of why they have a ... ah what is the term... don't know... anyway, why one side is flat and the other is sort of cambered, so that lines can be drawn with fountain or other ink pens without smudging the line.


Isn't it called a 'rule'?

Post 3

Munchkin

Well we always called them rulers. Or occasionally straight edges, but that was more a technical drawing term. This was in the West of Scotland, perhaps it changes with area. Hmmmm.


Isn't it called a 'rule'?

Post 4

Sho - employed again!

Oh, I just remembered the awful joke about the man's( hmmm can we say Penis here?) being 6 inches long and him saying as the punchline "but I don't use it as a rule"

Maybe my English teacher was just building us up to that.


Isn't it called a 'rule'?

Post 5

Munchkin

smiley - yikes I think you've just put me off buying ruled paper now smiley - silly


Isn't it called a 'rule'?

Post 6

Bagpuss

Well, we always called it a ruler as well, but the massive ones the teachers used (occasionally) were known as "metre rules". These were useful for impromptu games of indoor cricket.


Isn't it called a 'rule'?

Post 7

PaulBateman

Aren't the triangular ones called 'set squares' and the semi-circular ones called 'potractors' (I can't remember how it's spelt)? What about slide rules? (And I'm not taking about what children say when asked what their favourite playground attraction is smiley - winkeye.) Metal rulers are only accurate at measuring at a specific temperature. Didn't Napoleon have one made of platinum (?) that has to be kept at a specific temperature and is the standard metre length that metric refers to?

You can also pretend to play a guitar with a ruler. Or have two and have drum sticks (no, not the K*C variety).smiley - biggrin


Isn't it called a 'rule'?

Post 8

Pete, never to have a time-specific nick again (Keeper of Disambiguating Semicolons) - Born in the Year of the Lab Rat

It's 'protractor'. What exactly it protracts is beyond me.


Isn't it called a 'rule'?

Post 9

Sho - employed again!

Yes, set squares. And don't forget T-squares used by all sorts of technical drawing thingy people. Much more satisfactory as guitars than a mere 12" rule(r).


Isn't it called a 'rule'?

Post 10

Sneijder

If you look at a ruler, the measurements start slightly away from the corner.

If you look at a rule, (usually metal), the measurements start right at the end. As a rule.

Ssmiley - whistle


Isn't it called a 'rule'?

Post 11

Sho - employed again!

thank you.
this has been bugging me for sometime... lurking at the back of my mind every time I pick up one of those long, flat, measuring thingies.


Isn't it called a 'rule'?

Post 12

craigfreakmoore

Sneijder is right. Being an engineer myself i have no end of fun with people asking for rulers.

Person: "Can I have a ruler ?"
Me: "There is only one ruler and thats the queen !"
Person: "Okay you git can I have a rule ?"
Me: "Yeah, Don't run with sissors !"

Rulers are used for drawing, art, writting etc. Rules are used by engineers and start with the marking at one end, no space, this allows us to use them for depth gauge measuring, and for measuring from a face where a ruler would add the length of that little gap at the end.


Isn't it called a 'rule'?

Post 13

Sho - employed again!

I'd have thought the scissors thing was more advice than a rule.

smiley - winkeye


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