Re: [chat] Spelling rules

[stuartc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

> > I before E except after C. We live in a weird society!

> Sorry, pet peeve. The I before E rule only applies when the sound is "ee"
> (receive, believe, etc.), so "weird" and "society" are not actually
> exceptions. The rule is more correctly written as:-
 
> When the sound is "ee", it's I before E except after C, or
> I before E, except after C, when the sound is "ee".
 
as Steve's rhyme importantly points out,
the "when the sound is ee" part is crucial. if the sound is "ay"
(in words such as "weight", "sleigh" and "infiltreight")
it is *never* i before e. i used to get exceedingly annoyed when
people thought these words were exceptions to the rule because
they weren't clued to the importance of the "ee" sound.

> (or better still, find out how "ee" is expressed phonetically and put
> that in)

narr, keep emails 7-bit clean :-)

Stuart.