Common Sense

[archbishop]

Why is it called 'Common Sense' when it is not at all common.

[Quizmonster]

One of the meanings of 'common', Your Grace, has long been 'mere, bare or simple'. In terms of 'common sense', therefore, it just implies what nous one should have merely by being human...ie wise enough not to pick up the wrong end of a red-hot piece of metal, for example.

[bernardo]

The wisdom lies not in not picking it up; the wisdom lies in knowing which is the wrong end.

 

Unless, of course, the whole piece of metal is red-hot, in which case the wisdom lies in not picking it up by the right end either.

[Dusky]

It is a sadness that, these days, it's not common.

 

However, notwithstanding my incessant bemoaning of the falling of all kinds of standards, is it possible that common sense comes from the same box as common law?  My theory being that certain things under common law are simply held to be because it would be inadvisable for them to be otherwise but they shouldn't necessarily need to be written down anywhere in specific detail; in the same way common sense is usually self-explanatory if your are possessed of an ounce of brain power and don't need to have every detail spelled out for you.

 

Incidentally, if your the kind of git who picks up the hot end because no-one told you not to, are you still re-termed a visionary or are you these days actually legally obliged to set up an accident claims company?