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> exception that proves the rule That's not how that works; "someone is doing this" doesn't prove a rule "no one is doing this" -- quite the opposite "The exc

> exception that proves the rule That's not how that works; "someone is doing this" doesn't prove a rule "no one is doing this" -- quite the opposite "The exception that proves the rule" is for things like "closed Thursdays" (rule = open on other days), "no parking after 8 PM" (rule = parking allowed before 8 PM), "no refunds on games" (rule = refunds available on other items), etc.

OhMeadhbh 5mo ago
You're confusing "The Exception That Proves the Rule" (in English, as used colloquially) with "exceptio probat regulam in casibus non exceptis" (in Latin, which has a use similar to what you're describing.) While the law attempts to be precise, common usage embraces ambiguity.
- dctoedt 5mo ago
  > exceptio probat regulam in casibus non exceptis Or more succinctly, as first-year law students learn: Expressio unius est exclusio alterius — to state one thing is to implicitly exclude others. https://definitions.lsd.law/expressio-unius-est-exclusio-alterius https://definitions.lsd.law/expressio-unius-est-exclusio-alt...
  - emmelaich 5mo ago
    RIP modus ponens!
- dboreham 5mo ago
  They really mean the same. What changed was the meaning of the word "proves" in English. When the saying was coined it meant "tests", not "confirms". People kept saying the...saying even though they were using it backwards.
  - girvo 5mo ago
    Which is amusing because “proving grounds” is still using the old definition of “proves” :)
flashman 5mo ago
But we all knew what they meant and here you are being tedious about it
- reilly3000 5mo ago
  That’s why we’re all here together friend.
- kibibu 5mo ago
  I didn't really know what they meant by it. Sounds like "the fact that you do this proves that nobody does it".
  - dataflow 5mo ago
    I believe the phrase is used to mean something like "the fact that you found something that is obviously an exception proves that the rule normally applies." For example, imagine if your skydiving instructor said "if your parachute doesn't open when you jump out of the airplane, you're gonna die", and you replied with "well actually that's not true, Vesna Vulović survived a fall from high altitude." Yeah, okay. The fact that you had to be smarty-pants about it and dig up a random exception really proves the point they were trying to make.
    - anonymars 5mo ago
      Fair enough, I can buy that. I feel like in most cases where I've heard it it wasn't nearly so clear cut, so that logic wasn't obvious and it sounded like nonsense (Also that story is nuts! https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesna_Vulovi%C4%87 https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesna_Vulovi%C4%87)
    - stackghost 5mo ago
      This exactly. People on this website are so fucking pedantic and argumentative over the most obvious or inconsequential minutiae it drives me nuts.
      - 5mo ago
Georgelemental 5mo ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exception_that_proves_the_rule https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exception_that_proves_the_rule: > "The exception that proves the rule" is a saying whose meaning is contested. Henry Watson Fowler's Modern English Usage identifies five ways in which the phrase has been used… Personally, I use it in cases like: - Rule: Don't do X, it's a bad idea. - Exception: One time, someone with very special circumstances did X, and with a lot of finagling and effort they managed to make it work sort of OK. Or: - Rule: This fortress was an impregnable defensive position. - Exception: In A.D. 1305, the fortress was taken, with great difficulty and many casualties, by an attacking army 100 times larger than the defending force. Or: - Rule: This river never overflows its banks. - Exception: Once in history, on the day of the biggest rainstorm in 1000 years, the river is recorded to have overflowed its banks very slightly for a short time. The exception proves the rule because the circumstances necessary for the exception to occur were themselves exceptional.
deleted 5mo ago
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OhMeadhbh 5mo ago

You're confusing "The Exception That Proves the Rule" (in English, as used colloquially) with "exceptio probat regulam in casibus non exceptis" (in Latin, which has a use similar to what you're describing.) While the law attempts to be precise, common usage embraces ambiguity.

dctoedt 5mo ago
> exceptio probat regulam in casibus non exceptis Or more succinctly, as first-year law students learn: Expressio unius est exclusio alterius — to state one thing is to implicitly exclude others. https://definitions.lsd.law/expressio-unius-est-exclusio-alterius https://definitions.lsd.law/expressio-unius-est-exclusio-alt...
- emmelaich 5mo ago
  RIP modus ponens!
dboreham 5mo ago
They really mean the same. What changed was the meaning of the word "proves" in English. When the saying was coined it meant "tests", not "confirms". People kept saying the...saying even though they were using it backwards.
- girvo 5mo ago
  Which is amusing because “proving grounds” is still using the old definition of “proves” :)

flashman 5mo ago

But we all knew what they meant and here you are being tedious about it

reilly3000 5mo ago
That’s why we’re all here together friend.
kibibu 5mo ago
I didn't really know what they meant by it. Sounds like "the fact that you do this proves that nobody does it".
- dataflow 5mo ago
  I believe the phrase is used to mean something like "the fact that you found something that is obviously an exception proves that the rule normally applies." For example, imagine if your skydiving instructor said "if your parachute doesn't open when you jump out of the airplane, you're gonna die", and you replied with "well actually that's not true, Vesna Vulović survived a fall from high altitude." Yeah, okay. The fact that you had to be smarty-pants about it and dig up a random exception really proves the point they were trying to make.
  - anonymars 5mo ago
    Fair enough, I can buy that. I feel like in most cases where I've heard it it wasn't nearly so clear cut, so that logic wasn't obvious and it sounded like nonsense (Also that story is nuts! https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesna_Vulovi%C4%87 https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesna_Vulovi%C4%87)
  - stackghost 5mo ago
    This exactly. People on this website are so fucking pedantic and argumentative over the most obvious or inconsequential minutiae it drives me nuts.
    - 5mo ago

Georgelemental 5mo ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exception_that_proves_the_rule https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exception_that_proves_the_rule: > "The exception that proves the rule" is a saying whose meaning is contested. Henry Watson Fowler's Modern English Usage identifies five ways in which the phrase has been used… Personally, I use it in cases like: - Rule: Don't do X, it's a bad idea. - Exception: One time, someone with very special circumstances did X, and with a lot of finagling and effort they managed to make it work sort of OK. Or: - Rule: This fortress was an impregnable defensive position. - Exception: In A.D. 1305, the fortress was taken, with great difficulty and many casualties, by an attacking army 100 times larger than the defending force. Or: - Rule: This river never overflows its banks. - Exception: Once in history, on the day of the biggest rainstorm in 1000 years, the river is recorded to have overflowed its banks very slightly for a short time. The exception proves the rule because the circumstances necessary for the exception to occur were themselves exceptional.

deleted 5mo ago

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