We have all been programmed from kindergarten on with the old mantra "I before E, except after C". The problem is, this only works for 44 words, and there are 923 words that break this rule.

Weird how someone could, in good conscience, actually teach this to children.

According to Wikipedia:

The mnemonic (in its short form) is found as early as 1866, as a footnote in Manual of English Spelling, edited by schools inspector James Stuart Laurie from the work of a Tavistock schoolmaster named Marshall. Michael Quinion surmises the rhyme was already established before this date. An 1834 manual states a similar rule in prose; others in 1855 and 1862 use different rhymes. Many textbooks from the 1870s on use the same rhyme as Laurie's book.

Now, to be fair, the actual complete saying is:

i before e,

Except after c,

Or when sounded as "a,"

As in neighbour and weigh.

So, basically, we're being taught something that is A) not necessarily true, and B) has been taught to us wrong from the get-go. But, even the longer version is wrong. Just look at "Science". I may only have a public school education, but I'm pretty sure that letter after the "c" is an "i"...

While most adults have figured out that this particular rule is a sham - for the most part, anyway - our children (who believe a fat man travels the entire world in one night on a sled pulled by reindeer who are tripping on angel dust delivering gifts that his midget slaves made) are taught to believe whatever an adult tells them.

And people wonder what's wrong with kids...

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