3 ms·
Exception That Proves the Rule
- lokedhs 7y agoI figured out the proper meaning of the expression only a few years back. Before then, I was incredibly frustrated at it, not understanding how anyone could come up with such a ridiculous expression. Now I know it's just people repeating a saying without understanding what it means. I'm not sure if I feel any better about its use.
- sparky_z 7y agoI think a better (and more charitable) way to put that is that the meaning of the phrase has changed over time. Just because a certain sequence of works has one meaning in the context of ancient Roman jurisprudence doesn't mean that it can't have another meaning in modern slang. Incidentally, that's why I think the common usage of the phrase "begging the question" isn't the "mistake" that a lot of people love to pounce on. It's a phrase that makes perfect sense on its own, outside the context of formal logical debate. And I say that as someone who's usually a prescriptivist pedant about grammatical rules.