by 
Drublic
ANSWERS: 5
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The phrase is, "The exception to the rule." It means something is an exception or different to the usual or the common and customary. Example: The mohawk hair cut on the West Point cadet's head was certainly an exception the the rule! Simple as that.
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Can I take a stab at this? I got to thinking about what would inspire anyone to say that, and it occured to me that we are living in an age of rampant sarcasm. I have never heard the expression, but I can think of a circumstance, and a certain personality type that might inspire it. Let's take justanoldguy's example: A guy at west point has a mohawk. Now, we all know west point would never allow that. They have standards they expect to be upheld. Now, lets say there's another guy who hates mohawks, and believes that other people's propensity to wear outlandish hairstyles is disgusting (lets say he's a redneck). HE might look at the mohawk and say "Well now, there's the exeption that proves the rule!", meaning "See, that's why we have a rule about hairstyles, because if we didn't, every fool around here would be doing that!". Like I said, I've never heard the expression, but that's the way I logic it out. Waddya think?
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I have heard the phrase, but think it is nonsense. MAYBE: A reply folks give when they cannot prove their point with a reasonable reply.
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The presence of an exception proves that there is a rule even if the rule is not stated. For example, "No dancing on Sundays" proves that there is a rule that dancing is allowed on other days. If you have to quote an exception, it proves that there is a rule from which the exception deviates.
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It's a case of Elizabethan English. It's a very old proverb, and in Elizabethan England, to "prove" meant "to test," as the word "prove" often does in the King James Bible. Any exception tests the rule. If there are no exceptions (law of gravity for instance) it's a great rule. If there are many exceptions (racist characterizations of ethnic groups for example) it's a lousy rule.
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