“I before E” no longer in Britain

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 ...

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":

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."

Brian Fung is an editorial researcher at FP.

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