2026-09-27 10:33 UTC
The rule that I was taught as a kid was “I before E except after C only if the sound is ee”
It catches all of the examples on the mug except “weird” which gets a pass in my book because it’s weird (Keith’s excluded because proper nouns don’t follow rules). It doesn’t catch “caffeine” but the “ei” in “caffeinated” isn’t pronounced ee where I come from.
I’ve never heard the “ay” rule.
Replies (1)
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@LwL@lemmy.world 2026-09-28 12:13
Yeah the whole rule (and really the whole confusion) is about “ee”. Other pronunciations are always spelt “ei” anyway. It still has exceptions but it catches a lot. And i wish people followed it because I die inside every time someone spells “Wiener” as “Weiner”. The city is called Wien ffs.