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Re: OT: Proving the rule (was Re: OT: Russian in ASCII?)

From:Andreas Johansson <andjo@...>
Date:Thursday, January 8, 2004, 6:43
Quoting Morgan Palaeo Associates <morganpalaeo@...>:

> Tristan McLeay wrote: > > > The expression is 'the exception that proves the rule', and harkens back > > to an older meaning of 'prove' and 'proof' of 'test'. Though along with > > the changed definition of 'prove', the saying's been misanalysed as > > meaning what you said. > > As others have pointed out, this is wrong, although it's a common > myth.
Am I right to assume that the myth is only the origin of the proverb, not the earlier meaning of "prove", "proof"? Swedish _prova_, German _prüfen_ do mean "test". Andreas