"The exception proves the rule"?

[DrFaroohk]

How does that little theory work? I looked it up on wikipedia but the language was written fairly confusingly and it was hard for me to grasp exactly what they meant in a realistic fashion.

to me, sounds like BS. The exception should prove the flaw. If you tell me all black people are rappers, and I say, well look at obama, he's not a rapper, and you say "well haha there's the exception, it proves that all black guys are rappers!" That makes less than zero sense.

[Andara Bledin]

The basic theory behind the phrase is that if an exception has to be noted, that means that there is a basic general rule from which it deviates.

It doesn't say that it validates the rule, merely that it shows that the rule exists despite not being declared.

Speaking of phrases that can be brought into question, how can a thing make "less than zero sense?"

^-.-^

[HYHYBT]

It comes from an older usage of the word "prove," which basically meant the same thing as "test."

If something appears to be an exception, investigate. It may turn out not really to be one at all; if it is, the rule needs altering.

[DrFaroohk]

Speaking of phrases that can be brought into question, how can a thing make "less than zero sense?"

^-.-^

I guess it's sort of an exaggeration. Like saying "man that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" or "Is everyone here taking stupid pills?" Obviously, something can't make less than zero sense, and it's probably not the stupidest thing I've ever heard, and there's no such thing as stupid pills.

[HYHYBT]

Not QUITE the same thing as "less than zero sense," but there *is* such a thing as negative information:
http://www.physorg.com/news5621.html

[Boozy]

It comes from an older usage of the word "prove," which basically meant the same thing as "test."

Thank you!

You are the first person who has ever been able to explain that for me.

[Andara Bledin]

It's a scientific usage of the word, which is still in use today, actually.

It's proof of existence. As I said earlier, the fact that a deviation is noted as a deviation is a positive indication that a general rule is in effect.

From Merriam Webster

The first definition is noted as archaic. The second definition is how this word is used in this phrase (as noted by this phrase being the example for the definition) and is related to both what HYHYBT and I have said. The third and fourth definitions are the ones most people assume due to them being more common, and is why most people misunderstand the phrase.

I'm really not sure why it is that none of us thought to actually go to the dictionary first.

^-.-^

[Ree]

I'm really not sure why it is that none of us thought to actually go to the dictionary first.

You say that you can't believe nobody used a dictionary, but you also state that the second definition is the correct usage in this case...and yet, that is exactly the definition that HYHYBT used. Seems to me, he didn't need a dictionary.

[Andara Bledin]

Yeah, I re-wrote half my post and didn't quite fix everything.

^-.-^