“I before E, except after C, and when sounding like A, as in neighbor and weigh, and on weekends and holidays and all throughout May, and you’ll always be wrong, no matter what you say.”
Boxen!
The big yellow one is the sun
“It’s a cup of dirt! …I took a cup… and I put some dirt in it.”
That’s a hard rule… That’s a rough rule…
That’s kinda funny for me as a former pony fan because that exact bit got turned into a super-popular animation that at least cemented itself in the brains of all my friends.
That’s funny! Now I’ll always have to wonder if folks think I’m quoting Brian Regan, or that animation.
This is the type of mnemonic device I can get behind. Now if only it were subtly rooted in class consciousness…
…except after “c” or when sounding like “ay”, as in neighbor or weigh
- Neighbor
- Eight
- Beige
- Sleigh
- Received
- Foreign
- Weightlifters
Follow the rule
I’m seizing this!
I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, but it’s pronounced sayzing. It has to because of the rule.
How do you pronounce ‘received’? (Or foreign, for that matter…)
It doesn’t work all the time. English is full of nonsense like that. People always only remember half of this rule though.
Because English is three languages in a trench coat.
False. It’s the runoff of a language-rich neighborhood. Stewing in a ditch filled with what looks like mud but smells like a dead family of possums at the bottom of a park trash can.
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Also funnily enough, it’s arguably the most representative of the Germanic languages as a whole. It started out as a form of Central Germanic. Then during the Viking Age it was heavily influencd by a Northern Germanic language, Old Norse.
Even the French influence is a very specific variety of French, since the Normans were actually descended from Vikings
re-saved clearly
Four-Ay-Gun
Received is the except after C rule. Foreign uses the same ay sound as neighbor.
Keith is a better one, but it’s a proper noun so a lot of rules for spelling are ignored.
Foreign does not use the same sound as neighbor.
nAYbor
forEN
It absolutely doesn’t have a hard E vowel sound. Except when my deep south relatives say it.
I’m sorry… foreign and neighbor do not use the same sound
It does when you pronounce it correctly.
Firstly, there is, effectively, no ‘correct’ way to pronounce any damn thing. Languages belong to those who use them. RP English is no more correct than Delhi English, or Alabama English for that matter.
Secondly, I have English speaking friends from just about every US state, and so many countries, and I have never once heard one pronounce foreign as “fore-ayn.” I’d love to know what dialect you speak.
That’s not very scientific…
Edit: Downvote why? ‘Science’ clearly doesn’t follow the rule.
Good point, need to add that it’s also only for diphthongs. Science doesn’t apply because the i and e are in different syllables.
or when sounding like “ay”, as in neighbor or weigh
And on weekends and holidays and all throughout may. You’ll always be wrong no matter what you say!
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The phrase I learned was “except after ‘c’ but only if the sound is ‘ee’”. Mostly also works.
As a scientist, I’m getting a seizure from people in society pretending like this is a useful rule.
i before e, except after c, and this only applies when it rhymes with “me”
I before E except after C, We live in a weird society.
I think you mean wceird… 😵
“Just sound it out” is the best I got, wish mnemonic devices worked for me but they always get reversed or worse
English was a mistake, you shouldn’t mix so many languages. Look what you’ve done!
I blame the Germans for all this 🤬
No, you should blame the Vikings. They’re the ones that did all the blending
As someone who’s actually studied Old English and Old Norse: No, you are incorrect. it was the French. It’s always been the French. 1066.
Old English was a perfectly coherent language, and had incredibly consistent spelling rules. Meanwhile, one need only take a single look at a sentence in French to gauge precisely how much respect for spelling is held by francophones (being facetious with this last note, of course, but the point stands)
How do you counterfeit a beige sleigh? Paint it tan instead?
Feels like it was ripped from the AI in Dungeon Crawler Carl
