Read the Beforeitsnews.com story here. Advertise at Before It's News here.

By Now Appearing
Contributor profile | More stories

Story Views
Now:
Last hour:
Last 24 hours:
Total:

Exceptions, proofs, rules and puddings

Saturday, February 1, 2025 5:22

% of readers think this story is Fact. Add your two cents.

By Brian Clegg

The English language is a tricksy thing, replete with sayings that can, on the face of it, appear odd, or that get mangled after many repetitions. I recently heard something about one of these on the excellent The Studies Show podcast, hosted by Stuart Ritchie and Tom Chivers, that made me raise an eyebrow, because they claimed my interpretation of a saying was a myth.

The saying in question was ‘the exception proves the rule’. I want to come back to that after a brief excursion into another saying that involves puddings.

One of the most cringe-making things for me is when I hear someone on the TV or radio say ‘The proof is in the pudding.’ This is a totally meaningless statement resulting from mangling the saying ‘The proof of the pudding is in the eating’. Anyone using the first version needs to be sent to an English Language re-education camp immediately. But the real version itself can look distinctly confusing. We can prove a mathematical theorem, or that black swans exist… but how do you prove a pudding?

The saying depends on being aware that ‘prove’ has a less familiar meaning of ‘test’. In fact, if you look up ‘prove’ in the Oxford English Dictionary, the very first definition is ‘to make a trial of; to try, to test’. With this in mind, we can see that what’s being said here is you can test how good a pudding is by eating it. It’s not exactly great wisdom, but it makes sense.

So we move onto that disputed saying ‘the exception proves the rule’. This feels weird because you might think that an exception disproves a rule. If a rule is, for example, if we posit a rule that ‘all prime numbers are odd’ and we point out that 2 is a prime number, this is an exception to that rule, which disproves it. Disproving theories and rules is a central part of doing science or maths.

However, if we use the same meaning of ‘test’ for ‘prove’ as we did with the pudding, it makes total sense. We are ‘making a trial’ of that rule with an exception and breaking it. Yet Chivers and Ritchie (sound like an upmarket jam manufacturer) say that this is a myth.

The basis for this suggestion, I suspect, is that there was a Latin legal phrase ‘exceptio probat regulam in casibus non exceptis’, which translates as ‘the exception proves the rule in cases without exceptions’ – which, to be honest, doesn’t make much sense except as an indirect way of saying that rules need to exclude situations where the rules don’t apply – a total truism. But these aren’t the same words, and there is always a danger of deriving English constructs from Latin – this is what led to the bizarre idea that split infinitives should be allowed in English because you can’t do them in Latin.

I don’t doubt that the Latin phrase may have been the original inspiration of the English phrase. Emphasis on the ‘may’ – I am not aware of good evidence for the direct link. However, equally there is no doubt that the pudding-style ‘proof’ here is a valid interpretation of the phrase that frankly is more effective than the Latin use (and the OED supports it as a possible meaning), so it feels wrong to call it a myth.

While we’re in the world of puddings, incidentally, I’ll finish by briefly mentioning Rutherford’s ‘plum pudding’ model of the atom, where there definitely is a myth involved. I’ve seen many popular science titles say that in this model the electrons are represented by plums. Unfortunately, plum pudding is an archaic name for a Christmas pudding (see illustration), where ‘plum’ was as a generic term for dried fruit. Christmas puddings don’t contain plums and Rutherford had grape-derived dried fruit such as raisins in mind.

Image from Unsplash by Matt Seymour

These articles will always be free – but if you’d like to support my online work, consider buying a virtual coffee:

See all Brian's online articles or subscribe to a weekly email free here

Now Appearing is the blog of science writer Brian Clegg (www.brianclegg.net), author of Inflight Science, Before the Big Bang and The God Effect.

Source: http://brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/02/exceptions-proofs-rules-and-puddings.html

Before It’s News® is a community of individuals who report on what’s going on around them, from all around the world.

Anyone can join.
Anyone can contribute.
Anyone can become informed about their world.

"United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.

Before It’s News® is a community of individuals who report on what’s going on around them, from all around the world. Anyone can join. Anyone can contribute. Anyone can become informed about their world. "United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.

LION'S MANE PRODUCT

Try Our Lion’s Mane WHOLE MIND Nootropic Blend 60 Capsules

Mushrooms are having a moment. One fabulous fungus in particular, lion’s mane, may help improve memory, depression and anxiety symptoms. They are also an excellent source of nutrients that show promise as a therapy for dementia, and other neurodegenerative diseases. If you’re living with anxiety or depression, you may be curious about all the therapy options out there — including the natural ones.Our Lion’s Mane WHOLE MIND Nootropic Blend has been formulated to utilize the potency of Lion’s mane but also include the benefits of four other Highly Beneficial Mushrooms. Synergistically, they work together to Build your health through improving cognitive function and immunity regardless of your age. Our Nootropic not only improves your Cognitive Function and Activates your Immune System, but it benefits growth of Essential Gut Flora, further enhancing your Vitality.

Our Formula includes: Lion’s Mane Mushrooms which Increase Brain Power through nerve growth, lessen anxiety, reduce depression, and improve concentration. Its an excellent adaptogen, promotes sleep and improves immunity. Shiitake Mushrooms which Fight cancer cells and infectious disease, boost the immune system, promotes brain function, and serves as a source of B vitamins. Maitake Mushrooms which regulate blood sugar levels of diabetics, reduce hypertension and boosts the immune system. Reishi Mushrooms which Fight inflammation, liver disease, fatigue, tumor growth and cancer. They Improve skin disorders and soothes digestive problems, stomach ulcers and leaky gut syndrome. Chaga Mushrooms which have anti-aging effects, boost immune function, improve stamina and athletic performance, even act as a natural aphrodisiac, fighting diabetes and improving liver function. Try Our Lion’s Mane WHOLE MIND Nootropic Blend 60 Capsules Today. Be 100% Satisfied or Receive a Full Money Back Guarantee. Order Yours Today by Following This Link.

Comments

Online:
Visits:	1,672,178,029
Stories:	8,338,476