Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for March 09, 2021

Just be grateful for autocorrect.

This is why you should never ask for the receipt when buying stuff.

I wonder how many people today’s joke zoomed over the heads of.

You mean of course that you wonder over how many people’s heads today’s joke zoomed.

Not fallacies… exceptions. Every rule has them.

I’m going to have to parse that a couple times to see if there’s a joke. Right now I’m stuck on, “It’s a spelling rule, not a grammar rule.”

Oh, and don’t try to teach your grammar to suck eggs.

Generally speaking I get spelling right more often that MS’s little red lines under my words. I was a spelling champion of my school back in 1961.

First we’re inundated with puns, and now decade-old jokes. Uh-oh.

The rule works pretty well when the sound is “ee”. Here’s a more precise, but harder to remember, rule:http://www.steve.wagar.com/ibeforee.htm

In fact, a quick search of the (on-disk) dictionary shows that it’s E before I more than half the time. Even if you restrict it to moderately common words. Yet another proof that everything you need to know, you learned in Kindergarten (which was way before they lied to you about spelling).

Pastis passes my first desire of any art or artist and that is they use their voice to convey a point that at least has some purpose and at best has a point! Thanks Mr P!

Very, very nicely done, Mr. Pastis.

Clever.

It goes back to the Tudor era. While the French crown created a famous academy to standardize spelling, English relied on consensus, a system that resulted in lots of irregularities…

It’s less of a rule and more of a suggestion, really.

Not to worry about English having any science connected to its development; like Topsy, it just growed!

I was on academic probation because I failed, many times, the ‘dumbbell’ english spelling examination in college. The dean of engineering had the english department give me an exemption. Tank Gud!

The full rule that actually catches more exceptions is — “I before E except after C or when sounded like A as in neighbor or weigh.“

The rule ONLY applies when the sound is like “ee”. As in belIEve, and recEIve. The exception is sEIze. Remember it. It will save you many tears.

Or when sounded as a as in neighbour or weigh. Of course, as a Canadian, I put a u in neighbour. I don’t think that Americans do that. Down the rabbit hole of spelling we go! Also, autocorrect sucks.

My autocorrect won’t accept GoComics, even on their website…

“Or when sounded like “A” such as Neighbor or weigh"

If there are bad words to end sentences with, linking verbs are.

I is always has a hard times understanding Englees.

“Heh, heh, he said phallus.”

Mr. Pastis, very clever one today.

Would rat be considered conceited?

How come the comics censor didn’t gig him for “fallacies”?

Seize him, guards!

…Except sounding “Ay” as in neighbor or weigh.

Don’t get Stefan started on Bible contradictions :-)

There, their, they’re ……

well, there is a 2nd part to the I before E, except after C.“unless it sounds like an A, as in neighbor and weigh”

These rules, of course, are simply aids in helping sort out what is impossible to sort. Because English is so mixed up and is mostly exceptions, all a so-called rule can do is point to a probably good spelling. Sort of, “Try this first.” I think we expect too much from “rules”.

“Do or do not. There is no try.” …“You must unlearn what you have learned.” …“Named must be your fear before banish it you can.” …“Fear is the path to the dark side. …“That is why you fail.” …“The greatest teacher, failure is.” …“Pass on what you have learned.”

Absolutely brilliant!

Ed, you Kay Chanel.

He even throws in one in the last panel, nice

I live for live concerts!

The English language is fun; like trying to rhyme plough, though, through, tough etc.

At least it’s not a pun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duqlZXiIZqA

I can’t wait for the lie/lay lesson!

Silent letters. What’re you gonna do?

The best daily cartoon in months. It took me a few minutes to get it. When do we get the Duck Insurrection?

Weird indeed.

At least Pastis is being educational.

or when sounded like “A” as in “Neighbour” or “Weigh”

Rules are made to be broken.

“Their’s” no ceiling to it, is their? Autocorrect didn’t pick that up..

Oy veigh!

Your 9th grade English teacher says, “Yay, Stephan!”

Pastis, do you ever sleep? lol

Yadoofus. It’s: I before E except after C, or when sounded like “a”, as in “neighbor” and “weigh”. Fine to criticize rules when they’re wrong, not so fine when they’re only wrong because you changed them.

I tried to use autocorrect to drive my car. I ended up in the C.

Very nice.

Thank God for the English language. If it was a ‘normal’ language, not derived from a melting pot, Grammar Nazis like me would be out of a job. And George Carlin would’ve lost 2/3 of his material.

I had to check … the rules of English grammar date back to the 16th century, so that counts as ancient.

There is an exception to every rule – and the exception to the aforementioned rule would be “no exception.”

The problem is that English has so many words that come from other languages, and are therefore governed by different spelling rules.

you did not complete the rule, you left our “and in such words as neighbor and weigh.”

It makes more sense (maybe) with Charlie Brown, Linus and Snoopy.

https://youtu.be/hSHkBtmkeNg

OH he soooo missed the chance to spell the last word falleceis".

Bravo!!!

And this is exactly why I liked math and hated English classes. It is or it isn’t.

English is the hardest language to figure out, I gotta give ’em that. Even so, I hate to see it butchered by people who should know better, I can be a real Rat about it.

Words came long before spelling. Retrofits like that are always a kludge.

I learned “I before E, except after C, or when sounding like A, as in neighbor or weigh.” I know there’s exceptions even to that, but you get closer if you learn the second part of the rhyme =D

I before E except after C, except…when weird atheist science societies, seeing eight beige reindeer heifers reign and neigh, and sufficiently efficient albeit bouncier species, seize their ancient fallacies of deintellectualized deities agreeing to forfeit the reins, while heir Keith inveigles to reinforce or reinvent a surfeit of fancier, juicier, counterfeit caffeine freight weighing eight glaciers, herein a feint.

I was taught I before E except after C, or when sounded like A, as in neighbor or weigh.

left out "or when sounded like “a” as in “neighbor” or “weigh” (that’s the way I was taught it)

Mr. @StevenPastis : Spelling – A+

When, as a child, I pointed out things like this, the teachers would invariably say “It’s the exception that proves the rule”.

Even as a 9 year old, I thought that was the stupidest thing I’d ever heard; an exception doesn’t “prove” a rule – it proves the “rule” is bogus.

No fallacies here at all. He forgot the rest of the poem “except when sounded as “a” as in neighbor and weigh.” The words he is calling a fallacy follow the rules precisely even “receipt” which has a c in it.

Brilliant

An inventors creation to trigger corrective comments and drive us apart in cases we fully understand what they actually mean.

Stupid (spelling) rules!

https://youtu.be/qsIiQJZk3xE

Last century the rule was "i before e except after c or when sounded like a as in neighbor or weigh.

I before e, except after cOr when sounded as ‘a’ as in ‘neighbor’ and ‘weigh’Unless the ‘c’ is part of a ‘sh’ sound as in ‘glacier’Or it appears in comparatives and superlatives like ‘fancier’And also except when the vowels are sounded as ‘e’ as in ‘seize’Or ‘i’ as in ‘height’Or also in ‘-ing’ inflections ending in ‘-e’ as in ‘cueing’Or in compound words as in ‘albeit’Or occasionally in technical words with strong etymological links to their parent languages as in ‘cuneiform’Or in other numerous and random exceptions such as ‘science’, ‘forfeit’, and ‘weird’.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/i-before-e-except-after-c

I love this! Wish I could memorize that sentence to use next time I have this same discussion.

Pastis is more intelligent than I realized.

Some find English difficult, although I find it easy to plough through rough thoughts.

i before e except after c, or when sounded as “a”, as in neighbor or weigh. Or if the word comes from the French, or some other invader. Don’t trust spellcheck, either.

200 comments. Serves you right, Stephan.

I’m glad I never learned to spell.

Yes- fallaCIes

Oh gods help me…I Love this :D

What a weird strip.

english majors everywhere applaud you!

“Neither financier nor foreigner seizes weird leisure at it’s height.”

A mnemonic taught in high school.

Pugnacious Pastis strikes again, and English loses. Cartoon-Boy has weaponized his alter ego, Rat!

I before E except when your feisty foreign neighbor Keith leisurely receives eight counterfeit beige sleighs from caffeinated atheist weightlifters…A pretty weird rule if you ask me.

We’re not worthy (bow and bow again)

This is a common and very irritating myth. The actual rule is “I before E, except after C, when rhyming with ‘key’.” There are only two or three words in the entire English language which break it.

Also, the s in storm should not be pronounced like sh. Are you sure? How about sugar??

Society is to blame.

Neighbour.

At the risk of sounding like an idiot, what was the punchline here?

I just leave after eating shoots.

“I before E except after C, or when sounded like A as in neighbor or weigh, and on weekends and holidays and all throughout May and you’ll always be wrong no matter what you say!”-Brian Reagen

lets leaf autocorect out of this

“If the “c” you spy,put the “e” before the “i”.If you don’t spy the “c”,put the “i” before the “e”."Do you beleive that, freind?

My son Keith disagrees.

Um, I before E,,, always?