How much for a trained fox?

[Tale]

to prove the rule meant to test the rule

It meant that an exception implied a rule for the other cases. Such as "no parking 9-5." The exception is that it's only 9-5, implying you can park at other times.

 

[Klaus]

I thought "the exception that proves the rule" meant the rule that "every rule has an exception".

 

[darkadelphia]

I thought "the exception that proves the rule" meant the rule that "every rule has an exception".

No, because not every rule has an exception which is exactly the problem with using the phrase in the modern sense. What it means is that a clearly stated exception proves an unstated rule.

Example: "No parking after 5 p.m." This is an exception to the unstated rule that one can park before 5 p.m.

As used in the modern colloquial sense, it is meaningless. Saying that "A widget that gives you a +2 to your mcguffin costs 20 g.p., except when it costs 2 g.p." isn't an exception proving a rule--it's just wrong.

 

[Tale]

Did I derail this thread with trivia or what?

For the OP, personally, I think it'll cost whatever the player is willing to pay. It's Baldur's Gate.

 

[77IM]

Did I derail this thread with trivia or what?

This thread was well worth the price of subscription. I am literally beside myself with laughter. It begs the question: Is there any, grammar, language, or speling issue that the Internet can't solve?

-- 77IM

 

[darkadelphia]

This thread was well worth the price of subscription. I am literally beside myself with laughter. It begs the question: Is there any, grammar, language, or speling issue that the Internet can't solve?

-- 77IM

Best part is, you just used begs the question in a similarly wrong manner ;-) No time to explain, got to go to work.

 

[AverageTable]

Best part is, you just used begs the question in a similarly wrong manner ;-)

Yup.

The proper usage of the phrase is something like this:

"Begging the question" : To commit the fallacy of 'circular reasoning'. e.g. If one said "It's wrong for you to steal because stealing is wrong!" then one would have 'begged the question' by arguing in a circular manner - assuming the conclusion, that stealing is wrong, in order to prove the conclusion that stealing is wrong, thereby actually proving nothing.

In colloquial usage, "begging the question" has basically come to mean something like "raising the question", "prompting the question", "inviting the question", or "demanding an answer to the question".

The funny thing about it, though, is that the literal words themselves, "begging the question", seem to fit much better with the colloquial usage than the original one. The colloquial usage is a natural reading of this phrase, but the original meaning - to argue in a circle - is a very unintuitive use of the phrase.