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"I before E" no longer in Britain
Posted By Brian Fung
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 - 2:03 PM
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In a suspiciously French-like move, Great Britain's vocabulary police have set their sights on an ancient adage: "I Before E, Except After C":
New government guidelines advise primary schools that the old saw is so irrelevant and confusing, it is "not worth teaching."
Why the renewed assault on English spelling? Critics claim the saying is misleading because there are so many exceptions to the rule.
A prominent example, cited by the United States' National Public Radio, includes the following (the exceptions are italicized):
Let neither financier inveigle the sheikh into seizing either species of weird leisure."
foreign policy
i hate the word weird
we always learned 'or when sounding like 'A' as in 'neighbor' and 'weigh.' that would handle 'inveigle,' 'foreign,' and 'sheik,' at least.
"Let neither financier inveigle the sheikh into seizing either species of weird leisure."
Yeah, but that's total NONSENSE.
Yes, that is true. But I think its really high time that they should implement new rules on British language already.
Ryan
Timeshare Relief
Good riddance.
I before E except after C, or when sounded like "A" as in neighbor and weigh. All of the exceptions (at least, all the exceptions you're ever likely to need to know) are in the sentence, "Their weird foreign sheik neither seizes heights nor forfeits leisure."
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