- This topic is empty.
-
Posts
-
The rule “I before E except after C” was brought before a linguistic tribunal, charged with fraud.
Prosecutor called the first witness: a word. “Please state your name.”
“Weird.”
“And how do you spell yourself?”
“W-E-I-R-D.”
“Does this follow the rule?”
“No. There is no C. And the E comes before the I.”
Prosecutor called the next witness. “Name?”
“Seize.”
“Spelling?”
“S-E-I-Z-E. E before I. No C involved.”
“Next witness.”
“Neighbor.”
“N-E-I-G-H-B-O-R. E before I. No C.”
“Next.”
“Science.”
“S-C-I-E-N-C-E. After a C, so the rule says I before E — but I and E are not even next to each other. The C is followed by I, then E. The rule does not cover this. I do not know what I am.”
A statistician took the stand. “I analyzed 350,000 English words. The rule is wrong more often than it is right.”
“How much more often?”
“By a factor of about 21 to 1.”
The judge banged the gavel. “The rule is struck down. It is, by this, declared a mnemonic that mnemonics nothing.”
Every English teacher in the world felt a disturbance. But they kept teaching it anyway. What else were they supposed to do?
Log in to reply.