Idioms and Sayings
By serubhai1
@serubhai1 (204)
India
October 9, 2010 5:00am CST
Friends,
From my boyhood, I came across many "wise sayings' and at different levels of age, I could make a correct idea as to what the person (whose name is now Anon), tried to say. Some were foolish, some boorish and some pearls of wisdom.
There has been one however which I can't understand as yet which is "the exception proves the rule".Applying conventional 21st century logic, am flummoxed by this. How can an exception prove a rule? If we can prove evolution today, does it mean that God created the world?
I will be obliged if anyone can throw any light on this subject!
2 responses
@marifel86 (111)
• Philippines
9 Oct 10
I could say that this is a frequently confused english idiom. This actually means that the presence of an exception means that a general rule exists. I guess to truly understand the idiom,it would be better if you would search Fowler's Modern English Usage in which he identifies 5 ways in which the phrase is commonly used.
