rules of thumb
Rough working principles
Rules of thumb are practical guidelines based on experience rather than precise calculation.
A rule of thumb gives you a workable approximation: The rule of thumb is one bottle of wine per two guests.
These aren't exact formulas but rough methods that usually work well enough: As a rule of thumb, double the recipe for a crowd.
- educated guessReasoned speculation from facts
- rough estimateImprecise preliminary calculation
- guidelineRecommended standard for action
- best practicesProven effective methods
- satisficingAccepting adequate over optimal
heuristic · mental shortcut · tips · old wives' tale · tried and true · Occam's razor · shortcut · feel · commonsense · gut feeling · intuition · adage · ballpark figure · tricks · folk wisdom · experience · working knowledge · back-of-the-envelope
- informal knowledgefolk wisdom, old wives tales, hearsay, gossip, rumors
- wisdomwisdom, sagacity, sapience, discernment, insight
- Workplace Wisdombest practices, tricks of the trade, practical knowledge, professional ethics, career advice
- folk wisdomproverb, folklore, folk sayings, saying, proverbs
- adviceadvice, advise, tips, counsel, guidance
- decisionschoice, make a decision, choices, yes, no
rules of thumbfirst principles
Basic truths underlying reasoning
theoretical models · deductive logic · algorithms · scientific laws · mathematical proofs
rule, ruler, thumb, rules, regulation, thumbnail, thumbing, thumbed, thumbprint