The exception that proves the rule

Pranav Tiwari
2 min readJan 5, 2020

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I have heard this phrase used a lot of times in movies and TV shows, but I don’t think I ever understood what it meant. Which is why when I heard it again today while watching “Knives Out”, I made a note to myself (yes, I actually made a note on my phone, not just a mental one) to get to the bottom of this once and for all.

So the most common meaning that people attach to this phrase is — “because an exception exists, that must mean the rule is true”. All the usages of this phrase that I have seen have been along these lines. But that’s just so wrong if you think about it logically. An exception is supposed to disprove a rule. If you have a hypothesis and you find a case against it, that means your hypothesis is incorrect.

Yet most people use it this way. For instance, someone might say “All big CEOs are college dropouts”, and you would say well Sundar Pichai isn’t. To this, they would reply, “Well, he is the exception that proves the rule”. This is just plain stupid.

It was surprisingly difficult to find much about this phrase online, I guess I am the only one confused about it. But thankfully, with the help of a youtube video with only a 1000 views, and an article on Mental Floss, I’m now clear about the actual meaning of the phrase. And I am going to impart the knowledge to you.

The phrase is actually referring to an exception that if stated, will confirm the existence of a rule. Let me give you an example. Most barbershops in India have a sign outside saying — closed on Mondays. This one day closure is an exception, which proves the underlying rule that “Barbershops will be open on all days except Monday”. Instead of stating the rule, the exception to the rule is stated, which is sufficient to prove the rule.

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Pranav Tiwari
Pranav Tiwari

Written by Pranav Tiwari

I write about life, happiness, work, mental health, and anything else that’s bothering me

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