A Son Of Liberty

We were taught lies growing up.  I believe it is my task to unveil these nasty lies.  The first lie goes as follows: 

“I before E except after C

or when sounded as A in neighbor or weigh."

The truth is this:

Or when it comes in comparisons and superlatives like fancier,

Or when the C sounds as “sh” as in glacier,

Or when the vowel sounds as E in seize,

Or when the vowel sounds like I in height,

Or when it appears in compound words like albeit,

Or when it is found in –ING inflections with verbs ending in e like cueing,

Or occasionally in technical words that have strong etymological links to their parent language like cuneiform and caffeine,

And in random and numerous other exceptions like science, forfeit, and weird.

And that doesn’t even rhyme.”  Editor of Merriam-Webster Dictionary

-Wesley