Subject: [HM] "exception that PROVES the rule"
From: James A. Landau (JJJRLandau@aol.com)
Date: Sun Feb 27 2000 - 12:02:20 EST
A post by Julio Gonzalez Cabillon on 02/27/2000 at 4:53:51 AM EST included
the following words:
> Cervantes' writings are the exception that confirm the rule
The catchphrase that Julio is paraphrasing is "the exception that PROVES the
rule".
What this "proves" is that Julio's command of modern English is so good that
he has fallen into the same trap as 99+ % of native English speakers
(including this writer) by assuming that "prove" is a synonym for "confirm".
Except for this particular phrase, yes, "to prove" means "to confirm".
However, the phrase in question is a fossil, its wording unchanged since
before the English word "prove" came to mean "confirm". At one time "prove"
meant "to test the truth, validity, or genuineness of, as in 'the exception
proves the rule' or "prove a will at probate'" (quoted from the
Merriam-Webster 10th Collegiate Dictionary page 940). It is only somewhat
late that "prove" came to mean "To establish the existence, truth, or
validity of(as by evidence or logic), as in 'prove a theorem' or 'the charges
were never proved in court'" (ibid).
This archaic meaning of "to test" rather than "to confirm" occurs in modern
English only in certain stereotyped usages, such as "proving ground" (where a
new item of equipment is tested to see if it works) and "100 proof whiskey".
Question for the HM list: when did the English language first start using
"to prove" in the modern sense of "to prove a theorem"?
James A. Landau
Systems Engineer
FAA Technical Center (ACT-350/BCI)
Atlantic City Airport NJ 08405 USA
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