E.I., PART II (AND THEREFORE, I.E.)

The “7 before E except after C” rule continues to be insufficient.

The spelling canard discussed in the entry directly above—a “I before E except after C”—is a niceish rule that’s easy to conceive and perceive (in words like niceish, conceive, and perceive). Yet, the

except after C” part can deceive: such placement is not always efficient, in words like ancient and beneficience and caleficient and calori- ficient and concierge and conscience and currencies (and frequencies and redundancies and etceteracies) and deficient and delicacies and fancier and financier and glacier and hacienda and omniscience and prescient and proficient and saucier and science and society and spader and species and spicier and sufficient (and sufficiencies, to boot!). C what / means?