the exception that proves the rule

the exception that proves the rule

That which contradicts or goes against a supposed rule, and therefore proves it in one's mind. A: "Video games are all just mindless filth that rots kids' brains." B: "I don't know, a lot of them let kids express themselves creatively or learn about the world in new ways." A: "Bah, those are just the exceptions that prove the rule."
See also: exception, prove, rule, that
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

the exception that proves the rule

You say that something is the exception that proves the rule to mean that the example that you have just mentioned is not normal and is the opposite of what you usually find. Towers should generally be arranged in clusters, but the Post Office Tower was the exception that proved the rule — it needs to stand alone so that its signals are not interrupted. The most creative minds are often said to be the product of a problematic childhood, but Hornby must be the exception that proves the rule. Note: `Prove' here means `to test by experiment or analysis' rather than `to establish as true'. So, the meaning is that an exception tests a rule, not that it establishes the rule as true in all other situations.
See also: exception, prove, rule, that
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

the exception that proves the rule

a particular case that is so unusual that it is evidence of the validity of the rule that generally applies.
This phrase comes from the Latin legal maxim exceptio probat regulum in casibus non exceptis ‘exception proves the rule in the cases not excepted’. This in fact meant that the recognition of something as an exception proved the existence of a rule, but the idiom is popularly used or understood to mean ‘a person or thing that does not conform to the general rule affecting others of that class’
1998 Spectator The success of The Full Monty in the United States is an exception which proves the rule. On such lucky breaks, industries and economies are not built.
See also: exception, prove, rule, that
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

the exˈception that proves the ˈrule

(saying) people say that something is the exception that proves the rule when they are stating something that seems to be different from the normal situation, but they mean that the normal situation remains true in general: English people are supposed to be very reserved, but Pete is the exception that proves the rule — he’ll chat to anyone!
See also: exception, prove, rule, that
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • exception proves the rule, the
  • the exception proves the rule
  • number is up, one's
  • one's number is up
  • (one's) number is up
  • track (something) into (some place)
  • grovel about in (something)
  • track in
  • track over
  • track (something) all over
References in periodicals archive
The Rolling Stones might have spent the past 50-odd years telling you the opposite - and they did here in Cardiff, in a rousing and lengthy shout-along rendition of one of their most famous numbers - but their live show is the exception that proves the rule.
60s rockers guarantee satisfaction
Of these rationalist panels, a single narrow one, #36, 1974, is the exception that proves the rule; it picts, as it were--not depicts--an exploded letter K, arms akimbo, thus ostentatiously differentiating itself from the larger group of paintings.
David Reed: Gagosian Gallery
As Tommy rightly said all those years ago, "none of 'em last", although he has been the exception that proves the rule.
Tommy returns to the stage where it all began for him
But so many other major issues are probed, in a kind of Socratic style that refreshingly examines analytical questions from various angles, that this is the exception that proves the rule. Levene's magnum opus is at once interpretive and authoritative.
The Crisis of Genocide, Vol. 2: Annihilation: The European Rimlands 1939-1953
The exception that proves the rule was the referendum.
Talking left, acting right is our guilty little secret; Sunday Mail OPINION
But there's always the exception that proves the rule - and James Acaster discovered it during a gig in Wolverhampton.
Deadpan comic's top cover story
But San Francisco Ballet's 19-year-old Isabella DeVivo is the exception that proves the rule. In her first months with the company, the petite yet steely dancer found herself in a rehearsal learning the same parts as her idols Maria Kochetkova and Frances Chung.
Isabella DeVivo: dynamic and musical, the new SFB corps member already has leading roles
Its wow factor aside, Schilthuizen calls the genital role reversal "important because it is the exception that proves the rule of sexual selection." How much each sex invests in reproduction affects how choosy that sex is.
Most extreme female penis is found on cave lice: insect's organ can be 15 percent the length of the body, extract sperm from males
Only the vivacious die young, notes one character in Alain Resnais' "Life of Riley," while "the tiresome, humdrum ones live forever." But if that's true, then surely Resnais himself is the exception that proves the rule. Turning for the third time to the work of British playwright Alan Ayckbourn ("Private Fears in Public Places"), whose highly theatrical comedies of manners have made good matches for Resnais' consuming interest in form as a vessel for character and emotion, "Life" doesn't find the 91-year-old helmet doing anything he hasn't done before, but it does find him doing it in ebullient, beautifully stylized fashion, aided by an able-bodied ensemble drawn from his regular corps of traveling players.
Life of Riley
Monday in Boston is the exception that proves the rule - deadly incidents of terrorism have become less common.
Terror at the finish line
The exception that proves the rule might be the case of Korea and the UAE, where Korea's purchase of oil has been complimented by its supply of the UAE's nuclear power station.
UAE uses oil to build global influence
What makes Manent the exception that proves the rule? Manent is a neoconservative, and, apparently, only American neocons are Jews.
So You're A 'French Intellectual,' Eh?
Mark Johnston's Laa Rayb won last year from a low stall and at odds of 25-1, but that is the exception that proves the rule in this heritage handicap.
Oasis is theone; Beckett's colt can dance to Mile success