Tristan McLeay scripsit:
> 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.
Naah. See .sig below.
--
John Cowan jcowan@reutershealth.com www.reutershealth.com www.ccil.org/~cowan
"The exception proves the rule." Dimbulbs think: "Your counterexample proves
my theory." Latin students think "'Probat' means 'tests': the exception puts
the rule to the proof." But legal historians know it means "Evidence for an
exception is evidence of the existence of a rule in cases not excepted from."