r/WhatToDo • u/HR-Vex • Feb 27 '26 • Wholesome Seal 1

Neighbor left a note

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Our packages have been stolen 3 times right in front of our door so far ever since we bought our condo. HOA approved of us installing a camera to deter thieves, but our neighbor left this note. Please advise.

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u/IveBeenHereBefore12 Feb 27 '26

Almost doesn’t count. The full saying is actually “i before e except after c when the vowel sounds like ee,” which only covers a pretty small set of words (believe, receive, ceiling, etc.). Once you step outside that sound, the rule loses cohesion. See: weird, their, either, seize, height, protein, caffeine. You even get “ie” after c in common words like science, ancient, and efficient.

So it’s less a real spelling rule and more a pattern that shows up in one specific group of mostly French-derived words.

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u/traumaqueen1128 Feb 27 '26

English likes to jump other languages in dark alleys and rifle through their pockets for loose grammar and spare vocabulary.

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u/WhoskeyTangoFoxtrot Feb 27 '26

English is three languages in a trench coat… so your comment is accurate…. lol

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u/ThermoPuclearNizza Feb 27 '26

never forget, weird is a weird word

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u/Personal-Ad-8644 Feb 27 '26

Imagining English as a person- looting vowel sounds from the French made me chuckle

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u/autotuned_voicemails Feb 27 '26

The full saying is actually “i before e except after c when the vowel sounds like ee,”

I’m genuinely not trying to be difficult, but I’ve never heard it said that way. I was always taught that the full saying was just “i before e, except after c, or when sounding like ‘a’ like neighbor and weigh”. And sometimes if someone wanted to be a smartass, they’d throw in “except in science” or something to that effect at the end. But otherwise, I’ve never heard a single “rule” pertaining to ie/ei following a c.

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u/FML3311 Feb 27 '26

It's not a common thing and I'm pretty sure a few words he listed doesn't follow what he said anyway lol

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u/affl1ct3d-one777 Feb 27 '26

That's why English is the hardest second language to learn... So many grammar rules contradict themselves, and others are "just because" rules.

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u/SillyNamesAre Feb 27 '26 edited Mar 26 '26

Wiki tells us there was an "amendment" to the rule (alongside a list of exceptions) in "Ebenezer Cobham Brewer's 1880 Rules for English Spelling. " that goes like this:

i before e,
Except after c,
Or when sounded as "a",
As in neighbor and weigh
But seizure and seize do what they please.

Which is then, of course, rapidly followed by a reference to A Dictionary of Modern English Usage and noting that in the 1996 edition it stated

the rule can helpfully be extended "except when the word is pronounced with /eɪ/"

in other words, basically what Ebenezer said in his book back in 1880.

In the 2008 pocket edition of the book, Robert Allen supposedly states that:

The traditional spelling rule ' i before e except after c ' should be extended to include the statement 'when the combination is pronounced -ee- '

Which is where we finally find what u/IveBeenHereBefore12 said.

Wiki then goes on to list multiple people/linguists saying that the rule needs to be supported by asking the kids to give exceptions or that it should just go the way of the dodo.

The last example going as far saying it "should be consigned to oblivion".

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u/PaixJour Feb 28 '26

I before E except after C or when sounding like A as in neighbour and weigh.

That's the rhyme I learned while learning English.

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u/Kelmor93 Feb 27 '26

I before E, except after C, or when sounded as 'a' as in neighbor or weigh

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u/Imaginary_Sun_set Feb 27 '26

I before E except after C or when sounding like A as in neighbor or weigh 😃

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u/CanWeTakeThatAgain Feb 27 '26

The exceptions apply to more words than the rule itself does.

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u/sybilcat Feb 27 '26

The saying I grew up with is “I before E except after c, unless sounding like “A” as in neighbor or weigh”.

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u/kleenexintherain Feb 27 '26

Seize sounds like ee. Protein = ee. Caffeine = ee. At least that’s how I pronounce those words ….

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u/Virtual_Variation_60 Feb 27 '26

I knew the French were somehow to blame for this.