
“i” before “e” except after “c” applies only when “ei” goes with long “ee” (“eel”) not with the “ay” (“pay”) sound of “beige” or with “ay” plus silent “g”: “eight.” However, there are still exceptions: some words have “ei” rather than “ie” despite having the long “ee” sound: seize, caffine plural “-ies”: currencies, policies dipthongs: society, science when “c” is said as “sh”: sufficient, ancient. single “z” occurs only at the end with an “e”: laze. “ch” occurs only at the beginning, “tch” at the end: chat, catch. “wh” occurs only at the beginning of words: when. Here are a few, as outlined by Cook that I hope will make you take a step back and say, “Hmmmm.” There are so many grammar concepts I’ve taken for granted, never made the time to further explore or simply pushed to the back of my mind. “Accomodating Brocolli” has been a wake-up call for me. Nothing makes me more irate than seeing a sign for “Kustom” this, “Rite” that and (LOL) the other. I’ve always been a stickler for proper letter, word and punctuation usage especially in my former role as a Traffic Manager.
So many great books are simply tossed by the wayside and sold at next to nothing. I found it on the clearance table while shopping Borders in Chicago. “Accomodating Brocolli in the Cemetary: Or Why Can’t Anybody Spell?” by Vivian Cook is one of several books I’m in the midst of reading.
If ever there were a BLOG headline that set Spellcheck on its head, this is it.