Do you know what a lesbian rule is?
I didn't, until a few minutes ago. I was reading about French curves, which lead me to this Wikipedia article:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesbian_rule
A flexible curve: the modern counterpart of a lesbian rule
A flexible curve: the modern counterpart of a lesbian rule
A lesbian rule was historically a flexible mason's rule made of lead that could be bent to the curves of a molding, and used to measure or reproduce irregular curves.[1][2][3] Lesbian rules were originally constructed of a pliable kind of lead found on the island of Lesbos.[4]
The rule is alluded to by Aristotle in his Nicomachean Ethics (bk V, ch. 10) as a metaphor for the importance of flexibility in equitable justice: "For what is itself indefinite can only be measured by an indefinite standard, like the leaden rule used by Lesbian builders; just as that rule is not rigid but can be bent to the shape of the stone, so a special ordinance is made to fit the circumstances of the case."[5]
In the early modern period the term was often used figuratively (as Aristotle had used it) to mean a pliant, flexible and accommodating principle of judgment.[1] In his famous letter to the Louvain theologian Martin Dorp, Thomas More referenced it when reproving Dorp for his attack on Erasmus' In Praise of Folly: "You praise Adriaan for being unbiased, yet you seem to suggest he is no more unbiased than a Lesbian rule, a rule made out of lead which, as Aristotle reminds us, is not always unbiased, since it bends to fit uneven shapes."[6] Samuel Daniel in 1603 described equity as "that Lesbian square, that building fit, Plies to the worke, not forc'th the worke to it".[7] In the later 17th century, the antiquary John Aubrey used the metaphor in a more pejorative sense, implying the distortion of evidence to fit a preconceived theory. He accused Inigo Jones, who had interpreted Stonehenge as a Roman monument, of having "made a Lesbians rule, which is conformed to the stone: that is, he framed the Monument to his own Hypothesis, which is much differing from the Thing it self".[8]
= new reply since forum marked as read
That's a cyma reversa moulding often decorated with leaf and dart.
I definitely take Wikipedia it with a grain of salt, but it is an excellent starting point.
A brief Google search turned up a lot of hits, most of them relied the same Aristotle reference. A couple of the grammar oriented sites (e.g., https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2009/03/lesbian-rule.html) reference an entry in the OED for the term.
The reference to plumbers and mouldings make me think of it as more a tool of tradesman than architects, used more like a modern contour gauge than the flexible rule pictured in the Wikipedia article. I could easily be wrong about that.
My curves are a little flexible.
No one I've met that actually uses them calls them "diagonal cutters", it's always ""dikes" or "pair of dikes".
