Murphy's Law of Exceptions

"You can follow an 'unpopular' method or procedure 'till da cows come home' and nothing unusual will ever happen to 'justify' or 'vindicate' your unorthodox actions (and you'll likely get continually criticized by others for your chosen behavior), but then the ONE TIME when you eventually 'cave' and actually DO happen to follow the 'standard' or 'acceptable' protocol, THAT'S the solitary 'rogue occasion' when disaster will happen to strike --- something really bad will happen that would not have occurred if you had simply continued to follow your own 'pet' procedure that had seemed better/safer to begin with!"

My "super-long-term-driving-experienced" aunt had gotten fed up with my "back-seat driver" attempts to be helpful by telling her about vehicles that I'd see moving around fairly near our position when we'd be travelling someplace in her car, and so she had eventually asked me to just keep quiet and let here handle the driving herself. Well, of course, within a day or two, Murphy's Law of Exceptions decided to turn and bite me in da butt --- due to a view-obstructing sidewalk-mounted ad-sign, my aunt didn't notice an approaching car, but I did... naturally, that was the ONE TIME that I **didn't** tell her about it because she'd specifically asked me to keep my trap shut on instances like that, and so I'd ASSUMED (there's that word again!) that she'd observed the vehicle bearing down on the intersection. Well, as you might expect, we crashed, and there were multiple injuries in the other car! Can't win...!

by QuacksO March 9, 2019

"plain view" exception

A loophole in da generally-accepted social rule which states dat you hafta keep yer paws off a buxom gal's "merchandise" less'n ya get her permission beforehand --- da theory in dis case is dat if she has a majority of her plump juicy "milk-thingies" juss hangin' right out there all luscious and "obvious", she is implying dat she is largely "tossing social norms out da window", and so you can go ahead and gleefully "squeeze theeze" without having to ask her first.

I'm guessing dat da brainless lunkhead in da classic "PAT"-labeled-uniform cartoon (da bosomy chick who's wearing da name-imprinted t-shirt is named "Patricia", but da clueless dude thought dat da word meant dat he had permission to feel her up) who got KO'd by da brawny babe was thinking of da "plain view" exception when he decided to delightedly "savor da goods" with his huge clumsy hands... da guy's buddy is saying to him, "I think it's meant for identification purposes, not as a set of instructions" :P

by QuacksO March 18, 2019

Friends with exceptions

When friends make an exception from a normally “friendly relationship” to a “friends with benefits” like relationship for a limited period of time. They both consent that it will only last for that period of time, and afterwards they go back to being normal friends.

Friends with exceptions describes Anne’s relationship with her boss.

by Norwegian Education February 27, 2020

The Lesbian Exception

If an out of the closet lesbian has had no success in dating for 5 years or more, they may marry their trans masc best friend.

"Hey did you hear Linda's getting married?"
"I thought she didn't have a girlfriend!"
"She didn't, she called upon The Lesbian Exception!"

by A Bit Sapphic July 10, 2023

Law of Exception

According to Oleevie's Law of Exception, every proposition exhibits an inherent exception, whereby paradoxically, the proposition may itself manifest as an exception under specific conditions.
It simply means that every rule or statement has an exception, and interestingly, sometimes the rule itself can be an exception in certain situations.simply means that every rule or statement has an exception, and interestingly, sometimes the rule itself can be an exception in certain situations.

Consider the statement "Birds can fly." Applying Law of Exception, a penguin becomes the exception to this rule, as it's a bird that cannot fly. Here, the initial statement about birds flying becomes its own exception when applied to penguins.

by anonymous February 4, 2024

Undefined behaviour exception

Eine Undefined Behaviour Exception ist eine Exception, die bei Undefined Behaviour geworfen wird. Geschichtlich stammt die Undefined Behaviour Exception aus der Programmiersprache Sonix, die bei Stenya von einem sehr kompetenten Entwicklerteam geskidded wird. Manche Verschwörungsideologen behaupten, dass diese Art von Exception keinen Sinn macht.

Hast du schon etwas in der neuen Sprache geschrieben, die bei Stenya entwickelt wird? Ja, aber irgendwie bekomme ich eine Undefined Behaviour Exception. Oh neyyn, oh neyyyn, das kann doch gar nicht seyyyn. Süüü

by zmxrlxn November 19, 2023

Fallacy of the Relative Exception (Fallacy of "All Other Alternatives Are Worse")

A fallacy that defends a flawed position by comparing it to even worse alternatives, without ever addressing the flaws themselves. "Sure, our healthcare system is broken, but at least it's not as bad as Country X." The fallacy doesn't solve the problem; it just points to someone else's greater problems as a reason to accept one's own. This is the logical skeleton of the "lesser evil" argument, of "it could be worse," of every defense of the status quo that never actually defends the status quo—it just points to something worse. The fallacy ignores that the existence of worse alternatives does not make a bad alternative good, and that the goal should be improvement, not comparison. It's the favorite fallacy of those who benefit from things staying exactly as they are.

Fallacy of the Relative Exception (Fallacy of "All Other Alternatives Are Worse") Example: "She pointed out the corruption, the inequality, the failing infrastructure. He responded with the Fallacy of the Relative Exception: 'But look at Country Y—they have it so much worse.' The problems she listed remained unaddressed, unsolved, untouched. The existence of somewhere worse was supposed to make her somewhere better. It didn't."

by Abzugal February 21, 2026