The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal.com’s “Best of the Web” written by the editor, James Taranto.
James Taranto is out of the office on assignment. The excerpt below is from the June 22nd BOTW Archives.
Bottom Stories of the Day
- “Woman Moved to City 54 Years Ago”–headline, News Leader (Staunton, Va.), June 22
- “City to Prune Tree at Wailupe Beach Park”–headline, Honolulu Advertiser, June 20
- “Czech Skoda Sole Bidder to Supply Trolleys for Bulgaria Capital”–headline, Sofia News Agency, June 19
- “Jeddah Malls to Have Bigger Parking Lots”–headline, Arab News (Saudi Arabia), June 21
- “Gillette Ads Promote Closer Shave”–headline, Financial Times, June 19
- “Plane With Landing Gear Problems Lands Safely”–headline, Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader, June 22
- “Haitians Mostly Ignore Senate Run-Off Elections”–headline, Associated Press, June 21
Ayieee!
The Associated Press reports from London on the latest effort to combat literacy:
It’s a spelling mantra that generations of schoolchildren have learned–“i before e, except after c.”
But new British government guidance tells teachers not to pass on the rule to students, because there are too many exceptions.
The “Support For Spelling” document, which is being sent to thousands of primary schools, says the rule “is not worth teaching” because it doesn’t account for words like “sufficient,” “veil” and “their.”
But those aren’t exceptions at all. They are words that fall outside the scope of the rule, which applies only when the vowel combination in question is pronounced as a long “e.” They’re dropping the rule even though it applies so well that they couldn’t come up with a single legitimate exception. Isn’t that weird?
For more “Best of the Web” click here and look for the “Best of the Web Today” link in the middle column below “Today’s Columnists.
