there is an exception to every rule

English

Alternative forms

• there's an exception to every rule

Proverb

there is an exception to every rule

1. Usually said in a situation when the rule is incorrect and unusable.

Translations

every rule has an exception

• Arabic: لِكُلِّ قَاعِدَةٍ ٱسْتِثْنَاءٌ (likulli qāʕidatini stiṯnāʔun), لِكُلِّ قَاعِدَةٍ شَوَاذُّ (likulli qāʕidatin šawāḏḏu)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 規則之外總有例外／规则之外总有例外 (guīzé zhīwài zǒng yǒu lìwài)

• Czech: výjimka potvrzuje pravidlo (cs)
• Danish: ingen regel uden undtagelse
• Finnish: joka sääntöön on poikkeus
• French: c’est l’exception qui confirme la règle (fr), il n’y a pas de règle sans exception
• German: keine Regel ohne Ausnahme
• Hebrew: לכל כלל יש יוצא מן הכלל
• Hungarian: a kivétel erősíti a szabályt (hu)
• Italian: ogni regola ha la sua eccezione.
• Japanese: どの規則にも例外がある (dono kisoku-nimo reigai-ga aru)
• Norwegian: ingen regel uten unntak
• Portuguese: toda regra tem exceção, toda regra tem uma exceção, não há regra sem exceção
• Russian: у ка́ждого пра́вила есть исклю́чение (ru) (u káždovo právila jestʹ iskljúčenije), исклю́чение подтвержда́ет пра́вило (iskljúčenije podtverždájet právilo)
• Spanish: no hay regla sin excepción
• Swedish: ingen regel utan undantag

References

• Gregory Y. Titelman, Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, 1996, →ISBN, p. 322.