I saw this writing on a coffee mug, which is supposedly popular amongst linguists:
i before e
Except after C
and also when you
heinously seize your
feisty foreign neighbor's
conceited beige heifer
from the ceiling.
Weird.
I don't get the humor; could someone, please, spell(no pun intended) it out for me?
Best Answer
"i before e except after c"* is a spelling "rule" that many people remember from school or just because it's often repeated. It refers to words like "piece" to help people remember the "ie" order, and words like "conceive," where the "e" follows a "c" and is before the "i", like some similar words. But there are many exceptions to the "rule." The text on the mug lists many of these exceptions, and strings them together into a weird little story, so it's a clever and surprising refutation of the "rule." That makes the mug either funny, or for some people who have trouble with spelling, tragic.