Subject: Re: [HM] "exception that PROVES the rule"
From: Jim Nicholson (jdn7960@aol.com)
Date: Mon Mar 06 2000 - 21:59:17 EST
Here is an extract from Ambrose Bierce's "The Devil's Dictionary"
written in the late 19th century & early 20th. Note the example he
uses for his 'definition'.
"EXCEPTION, n. A thing which takes the liberty to differ from other
things of its class, as an honest man, a truthful woman, etc. "The
exception proves the rule" is an expression constantly upon the lips
of the ignorant, who parrot it from one another with never a thought
of its absurdity. In the Latin, "_Exceptio probat regulam_" means
that the exception _tests_ the rule, puts it to the proof, not
_confirms_ it. The malefactor who drew the meaning from this
excellent dictum and substituted a contrary one of his own exerted an
evil power which appears to be immortal."
Jim Nicholson
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