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| Cartoon By Dan Piraro |
There are several humorous elements in this cartoon.. First, it pokes fun at the many rules of the English language that we learned when studying spelling in elementary school, the most famous being "'i' before 'e' except after 'c'". Then it puts this rule we learned in English and puts it in the perspective of ancient Egyptians, who wrote in hieroglyphics. Its also funny, because the writer is writing with a chisel, so his mistake is much more permanent than if a student made the mistake on pencil and paper.
Thus, the cartoon had enough humor to cause me to chuckle a bit. Soon after I remembered actually learning the "'i' before 'e' except after 'c'" rule in elementary. As with most rules in English spelling and grammar, it was followed by a long list of exceptions. Here are a few of the exceptions to the rule: science, society, fancied, financier, efficient, glacier, either, neither, heinous, seize, leisure. One quickly learns that the English language isn't very strict when implementing its rules.
That is one reason why I liked studying the German language. It was pretty cut and dry. When you heard the “i” sound, you knew that the “i” came after “e”. When it made the “e” sound, you knew that the “e” came after the “i”. That was it. The only exceptions came from foreign languages, like English. Consistency in spelling was one reason why learning the German language would be easier than learning English.
Another fun fact about German, is they didn’t like making up new words. If they found something new and they needed a new word for it, they often just took two existing words and put them together. For example, the German word for “pork” is “Schweinefleisch”, which literally translates to “pig flesh.” The only downside is that some of these compound nouns can become ridiculously long, like “Gesundheitswiederherstellungszusammenmischungsverhaeltniskundiger” which means “one who knows the mixture ratio of a concoction that is sure to restore health.”
This post was super humorous and informative all at the same time! I've always said that if I spoke a different language, I don't think I would make it learning English. Can you imagine how frustrating that would be?? Did you know that there are more words that break the i before e rule than follow it? This would infuriate me if I were learning English as a second language. I like learning Spanish for the same reason you like German - no surprises! (except for that ludicrously long German word - is that real?!)
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