Run the rule over,

Posted by Pamela on July 19, 2007

In Reply to: Run the rule over, posted by walrus on July 17, 2007

: I found it being used in football related news and articles recently...it also appeared in news related to Gordon Brown...i will paste the links here if its any help...

[Dead link removed - ed]

I've had a look at those (and others - the phrase seems to pop up in headlines a fair bit). From the context, it means "assess something to see if it measures up/works/is any good". I'm imagining that it may come from building or some other trade where a rule (or a ruler) is used to double check if the plans are true. This is just my speculation. Pamela