Present Company Excepted Meaning

(idiomatic) These negative remarks do not pertain to anyone who is currently listening to them (including the speaker).

Example: 1853, Charles Dickens, Bleak House, ch. 54:
  Everybody it appears, the present company excepted, has plotted against Mrs Snagsby’s peace.
1921, P. G. Wodehouse, Indiscretions of Archie, ch. 26:
  "I say, Reggie, old thing—present company excepted—have there been any loonies in your family?"
2009 Dec. 2, Romesh Ratnesar and Bill Saporito, "How Will Tiger Woods' Apology Affect His Image?," Time (retrieved 15 Sept 2013):
  Well, even Stanford guys aren't perfect (present company excepted, of course).

RECENT SEARCHES