Fun Stuff > CHATTER
English is weird
Pilchard123:
--- Quote from: James Davis Nicoll ---The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and riffle[sic] their pockets for new vocabulary.
--- End quote ---
Loki:
That quote isn't from Pratchett? I need to read more of this man.
calenlass:
As far as I can tell, the I Before E rule does work, but you have to approach it from a bit of an etymological standpoint. It applies almost uniformly to words that are not:
Words of romance origin into Middle English (and some other words with two pronounced syllables ie or ei, like science)
German bastardizations, like neighbor (nachbar), eight (acht), freight (fracht), etc
anything from gaelic
Loan words, for the love of god why would you apply a spelling rule to words that came from a completely different language with completely different spelling rules, like ceilidh, hacienda, Eid, geisha, zeitgeist, and sheikh, of course it isn't going to work you idiots
GarandMarine:
Considering much of the English language is words of Romance origin into Middle English, German bastardizations and a smattering of Gaelic, it's safe to say the rule doesn't work.
pwhodges:
It's not so bad if you recall that it only applies to the sound "-ee-"; but yes, it's a pretty crap rule, though somewhat useful in practice.
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