i before e

We’ve all heard it – i before e except after c.  Unless it’s weird.  Or foreign.  Or height or weight, vein, neighbour, forfeit, feign…

It’s generally true when the e has an ‘ee’ sound, but not always.  This is what Oxford Dictionaries has to say about the matter:

‘There are a few exceptions to the general i before e rule, even when the sound is ‘ee’. Examples include seize, weird, and caffeine. There’s nothing for it but to learn how to spell these words, checking in a dictionary until you are sure about them.’

So there you have it.  English spelling is just a scam to sell more dictionaries.

On the plus side, I got 10/10 on the translating Britishisms quiz.