(no subject)

[webofevil]

They’re talking about how difficult it is to scientifically test homeopathic products.

Lord Turnberg: One way to find out is to refer this whole question to mice so that they can examine it properly. I ask my noble friend if I can persuade him to refer homeopathic remedies to mice.

I look up, startled. Has he entirely misunderstood the mouse/scientist relationship? Oh, right, he said NICE. I knew that.

Comments

[webofevil.livejournal.com]

(a) As any pedant worth their apostrophes will tell you, that's the original (now admittedly archaic) meaning of "prove" - hence the phrase "the exception that proves the rule" actually making sense when it was coined, etc.

(b) Isn't "proof" being used here as in "40% proof" - or, as it's homeopathy, "0.00000000000000000000000000000004% proof"?

[amuchmoreexotic.livejournal.com]

I know that prove can mean "test", but it is an odd term to use nowadays. Of course homeopathy is passed down as revealed truth, so you can't expect them to change anything.

You're probably right about the meaning of proof, but homeopaths have their own system of expressing dilutions: 100X, 30C etc.

I've just looked it up, and "the exception proves the rule" is actually a legal phrase meaning 'if you state an exception to an unwritten rule, you're confirming that the rule applies at other times'. According to this, anyway:

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/exception-that-proves-the-rule.html