My 6-year-old Self in Response to Spelling Rules
I have an admitted aversion to rules of spelling. They make sense in some languages, but not necessarily in English. Part of the problem is the veritable hodge podge of sources from which English is derrived; especially French, but also German, Latin, Greek, and smatterings of Arabic, Spanish and even Turkish. (but I mostly blame the French). As a result, rules spelling are a bit nonsensical.
I very clearly remember being in Mrs. Hippe's first grade class in Morningside School, when she taught us the "i before e except after c" nonsense. I said, "What about the word "weird"? "That's an exception," she patiently explained. "What about "neighbor"? "Yes, as I said "except in words like 'neighbor' and 'weigh.'" Yikes. More exceptions! I couldn't take it!
I looked into it over the years (yes, I was that nerdy as a child), and found a litany of words that were apparently,…
Sally, not sure if I want to touch that one....especially after the overly descriptive moniker you attached to it.
I have a decidedly unscientific approach. I read my writing out loud. When intonation goes down at the completion of a thought, PERIOD. If I pause, ever so slightly, COMMA. If my intonation goes down but the thought is not yet complete, SEMI-COLON. You see, as a writer and not a linguist or grammarian per se, I have little patience for 'rules' of punctuation. A former professor colleague of mine was insistent on always putting a comma before every and, so, but or because....even if they didn't seem to serve a purpose. I said "[Miss Uppity Pants], why do you need the comma there?" Her response? "Because....because... that's the rule!" I said "Pardon me once again, [Miss U.P.], it's not 1895! You shouldn't be punctuating without knowing why. Following 19th century protocol isn't the ideal method. Just look at a novel from 1850. They put commas after EVERYTHING."
"I think, that I love you." "She knows, you are kind." Why? I don't know. Antiquated rules, I am, you know, guessing; right?