The dumbing down continues.....

[Toolpusher]

...

[VectraMan]

Surely this is the exact opposite of dumbing down. The 'i' before 'e' "rule" is dumbing down because it's an over-simplification that is frequently wrong.

[threaded]

I like the comment at the end, it made me laugh: (This version CORRECTS spelling of Bovill, sted Bovell, in graf 4.)

[RichardCranium]

Surely this is the exact opposite of dumbing down. The 'i' before 'e' "rule" is dumbing down because it's an over-simplification that is frequently wrong.

i before e
except after 'c',
before silent 'gh'
or before silent 'g'

That covers most cases.

[expat]

i before e
except before 'c',
before silent 'gh'
or before silent 'g'

That covers most cases.

Seize

[Cyberman]

I've always found these 'rules' useful. For instance, it's much easier to remember the order of colours in the rainbow with ROYGBIV or the days in months by '30 days hath September, April, June and November' etc .........

Dumping rules is a really bad sign of the times IMO.

[OwlHoot]

I've always found these 'rules' useful. For instance, it's much easier to remember the order of colours in the rainbow with ROYGBIV or the days in months by '30 days hath September, April, June and November' etc .....

To work out the number of days in successive months it's far easier to use your knuckles than that laborious poem - Hold out your left fist, face down, and count in from the knuckles of your little finger, including the hollows between each knuckle.

You should reach the index finger knuckle at july, whereupon you start from that same knuckle and count back the other way. Dunno how this will turn out in proportional spacing, but let's give it a go:

(___)___(___)___(___)___(___)

__J___f___M__a___M___j___J -->

_________D__n___O___s___A <--

So then every month with 31 days lands on a knuckle, and the rest (including february) fall on a hollow between two knuckles, indicated in lowercase above.

[Sysman]

i before e
except before 'c',
before silent 'gh'
or before silent 'g'

That covers most cases.

Except weird, which is just, er, weird.

[Bagpuss]

It's a crap rule that just serves to confuse

[RichardCranium]

Bad journalism, sadly

British government spells end of 'i before e' rule

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090620/...lling_shake_up

So I did a search for "support for spelling" and, to my surprise, found it.

It is a 120-odd page .PDF freely available for download. It is aimed at primary schools and provides a strategy for teaching spelling. It is not about dumbing down but helping teach good spelling. It is from the National Strategies part of the Dept for something or other.

The "i before e" thing is referenced twice. Once is as a suggested exercise for children to explore its validity (which is a fun idea). The second is:

Note: The i before e except after c rule is not worth teaching. It applies only to words in which the ie or ei stands for a clear /ee/ sound and unless this is known, words such as sufficient, veil and their look like exceptions. There are so few words where the ei spelling for the /ee/ sound follows the letter c that it is easier to learn the specific words: receive, conceive,deceive (+ the related words receipt, conceit, deceit), perceive and ceiling.

Sadly, it is NOT a case of dumbing down by the government, but by the media.