I guess this might have been asked before, but I want to know which is correct in the following context. I'm sorry that my English might not be as good as yours, I'm not a native English speaker and rarely use the language.
I ordered personal license plates for my car. The plates have the text "Nevr2L8" (Never too Late). Shortly after recieving them, I ordered new frames with the text "Except on Mondays". I picked up the frames today, went inside my house to fit the new plates and thought… holy mother… isn't it except for?
So which is correct:
I'm never too late, except on Mondays.
or
I'm never too late, except for Mondays.
I don't want to drive around in a nice car looking (thinking of looking) stupid.
shows that except as being was used quite frequently in the 1800's and was overtaken by "except for being" around the turn of the century.
Best Answer
The idiom "never too late" carries the idea that even though you might think that too much time has passed for something to be worth doing, it's still worth doing. E.g. "It's never too late to change old habits" (at brainyquote.com, in the box with the name Florence Griffith Joyner).
So "Never too late ... except on Mondays" carries the idea that you're an optimist everyday except Mondays.
On the other hand, "Never too late ... except for Mondays" is a little ambiguous. It could have the same meaning as the "... on ..." version, but it could also mean that you are an optimist about everything else, but you're a pessimist about Mondays. The first is about things done on Mondays, the second is about the day itself.