Exception that proves the rule
"The exception [that] proves the rule" is a frequently confused English idiom. The original meaning of this idiom is that the presence of an exception applying to a specific case establishes that a general rule existed.
Henry Watson Fowler's Modern English Usage provided an early critical analysis of the confused use of this phrase, and many more recent style guides repeat Fowler's criticism.
Contents |
[edit] Fowler's five usages
Fowler's Modern English Usage identifies five ways in which the phrase is commonly used, here listed in order from most to least correct.
[edit] Original meaning
The phrase is derived from the medieval Latin legal principle exceptio probat regulam in casibus non exceptis ("the exception confirms the rule in cases not excepted"), a concept first proposed by Cicero in his defence of Lucius Cornelius Balbus.[1] This means a stated exception implies the existence of a rule to which it is the exception. The second part of Cicero's phrase, "in casibus non exceptis" or "in cases not excepted," is almost always missing from modern uses of the statement that "the exception proves the rule," which may contribute to frequent confusion and misuse of the phrase.
Fowler's Modern English Usage gives the following example of the original meaning:
- Special leave is given for men to be out of barracks tonight till 11.00 p.m.; "The exception proves the rule" means that this special leave implies a rule requiring men, except when an exception is made, to be in earlier. The value of this in interpreting statutes is plain.
In other words, a legal exception implies that something is normally not excluded.
For another example, stating that emergency vehicles may exceed the speed limit carries the implicature that other vehicles may not do so, even if the latter is not explicitly stated. Similarly, a sign that says "parking prohibited on Sundays" (the exception) "proves" that parking is allowed on the other six days of the week (the rule).
This legal principle is classically referred to as "inclusio unius est exclusio alterius" (Inclusion of one is to exclude the others). The idea is that if the promulgator of law finds reason to enumerate one exception, then it is only reasonable to infer no others were intended. The same principle, in obverse, is seen in the Ninth Amendment - " The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."
The phrase may also be invoked to claim the existence of a rule that usually applies, when a case to which it does not apply is specially mentioned. For example, the fact that a nurse is described as "male" (the exception) could be taken as evidence that most nurses are female (the rule). This is a slightly looser interpretation of the original meaning.
[edit] Scientific sense
A case may appear at first sight to be an exception to the rule. However, when the situation is examined more closely, it is observed that the rule does not apply to this case, and thus the rule is shown to be valid after all.
Fowler's example is of a critic, Jones, who never writes a favourable review. So it is surprising when he writes a favourable review of a novel by an unknown author. Then it is discovered that the novel is his own, written under a pseudonym. Obviously the rule doesn't apply to this case (although the rule may need to be more precisely stated in future) and the previous evaluation of Jones's ill-nature toward others is re-affirmed.
[edit] Loose rhetorical sense
A rural village is "always" quiet. A local farmer rents his fields to a rock festival, which disturbs the quiet. In this example, saying "the exception proves the rule" is literally incorrect, but it is used to draw attention to the rarity of the exception, and to establish the status of the village prior to the exceptional event.
[edit] Jocular nonsense
It is also used in Jocular nonsense. "I am always punctual." "Were you on time for breakfast this morning?" "Well no, but the exception proves the rule." In this case, the first speaker is aware that the idiom does not correctly apply to their initial statement, but is appealing to it ironically.
[edit] Serious nonsense
"It will rain on my birthday, it always does." "It didn't rain last year." "But the exception proves the rule." The first speaker in this example has confused the meaning of the idiom, apparently believing that any exception to any rule "proves" the rule true; in this case, the notion that "the exception proves the rule in cases not excepted" is neither implied nor understood by the speaker.
[edit] Discussion
Fowler writes "The last of these is the only one that need to be objected to directly, though 3 & 4 bear the blame of bringing 5 into existence." Fowler objects to the misuse of this proverb because it implies the following two beliefs:
- Exceptions can always be neglected.
- A truth is all the truer if it is sometimes false.
It was in objection to this misuse that Arthur Conan Doyle had his famous detective Sherlock Holmes utter the statement "I never make exceptions. An exception disproves the rule."
[edit] Usage in other languages
The Germans have Ausnahmen bestätigen die Regel, the Dutch Uitzonderingen bevestigen de regel, the French L'exception confirme la règle, the Czech Výjimka potvrzuje pravidlo, all of which mean Exception(s) confirm the rule.
This is in apparent contradiction with the explanation that a stated exception gives rise to an unstated rule (of which it is the exception). Indeed, confirm can apply to an existing, previously stated rule that is being reinforced, rather than created.
It is in agreement with an older philosophical explanation, though, that looks at the world as being part chaos (no order), part law (no freedom), and part rule (order with freedom). Hence as a rule meaning normally, but not necessarily always, as in As a rule, I leave before 7.
Then the existence of the exception affirms the existence of order (otherwise it would not be an exception) and of freedom (otherwise exceptions would be impossible) at the same time, so one must be dealing not with chaos, nor with a law, but with a rule.
[edit] References
- ^ The exception proves the rule, alt-usage-english.org
