In the late 20th century, some efforts were made to discourage the phrase "rule of thumb", which was seen as taboo owing to this false origin. Patricia T. O'Conner, former editor of the "New York Times Book Review", described it as "one of the most persistent myths of political correctness". During the 1990s, several authors wrote about the false etymology of "rule of thumb", including the conservative social critic Christina Hoff Sommers, who described its origin in a misunderstanding of Blackstone's commentary. Nonetheless, the myth persisted in some legal sources into the early 2000s.