[email protected] wrote: >Perhaps this is the exception that proves the rule (that's actually one of the >most stupid sayings ever) but yours works.
Actually it's not a stupid expression, just a misunderstood one (and you, Frank, with your legal background, ought to know about it). It's a legal maxim that dates back to Rome - the famed orator Cicero is the first know reference. Basically, it means that the act of specifying an exception to a rule proves that such a rule exists even if said rule isn't explicitly stated. Here's a concrete example: In many states in the U.S. traffic law allows you to make a right turn at a red light (after coming to a stop). But not all states permit this, so the issue when traveling across country is determining whether the state you're in allows it. The presence of a sign that says "No right turn on red" is what you look for. The exception (the sign that says "No right turn on red") proves the rule (that in general you *can* turn right on red). This is from a Dictionary of Foreign Words and Phrases in Current English, by Alan Bliss (ISBN 9780415059053) via Cecil Adams and the Straight Dope: "Cicero was defending one Bilbo. (No relation to Frodo.) Bilbo was a non-Roman who was accused of having been illegally granted Roman citizenship. The prosecutor argued that treaties with some non-Roman peoples explicitly prohibited them from becoming Roman citizens. The treaty with Bilbo's homeboys had no such clause, but the prosecutor suggested one should be inferred. Nonsense, said Cicero. "Quod si exceptio facit ne liceat, ubi non sit exceptum ..." Oops, I keep forgetting how rusty folks are on subjunctives. Cicero said, if you prohibit something in certain cases, you imply that the rest of the time it's permitted. To put it another way, the explicit statement of an exception proves that a rule to the contrary prevails otherwise. " -- Mark Roberts - Photography & Multimedia www.robertstech.com -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
