"I before E" no longer in Britain

Wed, 06/24/2009 - 2:03pm

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."

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foreign policy

by rewq.tw on Wed, 06/24/2009 - 6:06pm

foreign policy

i hate the word weird

by twill on Wed, 06/24/2009 - 6:46pm

i hate the word weird

what about the next line

by rmbjspd on Wed, 06/24/2009 - 8:00pm

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

by nquixote on Thu, 06/25/2009 - 6:45am

"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

by lasvegastimeshare03 on Thu, 06/25/2009 - 7:35am

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.

by krothrock on Thu, 06/25/2009 - 7:40am

Good riddance.

Problem solved

by susan ten on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 11:06am

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."