golden rule
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
English[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Audio (AU) (file)
Noun[edit]
golden rule (plural golden rules)
- (idiomatic) A fundamental rule or principle.
- 1859 November 24, Charles Darwin, “On the Imperfection of the Geological Record”, in On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, pages 296–297:
- It is all-important to remember that naturalists have no golden rule by which to distinguish species and varieties; […]
- 1943 March and April, T. F. Cameron, “The Preparation of Timetables”, in Railway Magazine, page 75:
- There is one golden rule of timetable work, that if a passenger train never runs to time it must be altered or other trains must be altered so that it can shake off its chronic unpunctuality.
- 1979, Bernard Edwards, Nile Rodgers (lyrics and music), “We Are Family”, performed by Sister Sledge:
- Here's what we call our golden rule / Have faith in you and the things you do
- 2023 August 17, Aditya Chakrabortty, “Can’t pay and they really do take it away: what happens when the bailiffs come knocking”, in The Guardian[1]:
- A new book called When Nothing Works shows which groups have enjoyed the biggest rise in take-home pay since the turn of the millennium. From Tony Blair to Boris Johnson, the authors discover one golden rule: the richer you are, the more money you’re given.
- (ethics) The principle that one should treat other people in the manner in which one would want to be treated by them.
- 1818, Sir Walter Scott, chapter 2, in Rob Roy:
- "Mr. Francis seems to understand the fundamental principle of all moral accounting, the great ethic rule of three. Let A do to B, as he would have B do to him; the product will give the rule of conduct required." My father smiled at this reduction of the golden rule to arithmetical form.
- (law, England and Wales, idiomatic) A method of statutory interpretation, whereby a judge will deviate from a literal interpretation of the law to the extent necessary to circumvent obvious absurdities or (sometimes) conclusions repugnant to public policy.
- Coordinate terms: plain meaning rule, mischief rule
Translations[edit]
fundamental rule or principle
|
principle that one should treat other people how one wants to be treated
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
|