Overwhelming Exception
An informal fallacy of generalization, where a generalization is accurate, but comes with one or more qualifications which eliminate so many cases that what remains is much less impressive than the initial statement might have led one to believe.
Origin
The exact origin of the term "overwhelming exception" is uncertain. The fallacy appears in modern logic textbooks and databases, including Wikipedia and various fallacy resources, but specific documentation of who coined the term or when it was first introduced is not readily available. The rhetorical use has been recognized in popular discourse—notably in Monty Python's Life of Brian for comic effect—but the academic origin remains undocumented in current sources. It represents a recognized pattern in informal logic.