The Neighbors Weigh in on “I Before E Except After C”
The word of the day for November 20, 2012: RECEIVED.
Most people (and possibly some of Old Macdonald’s farm animals*) are familiar with the “I before E except after C” rule. But what’s with words like leisure, seizure, weigh, and neighbor? Seriously, what’s with you words? If any of you words happen to be reading this, let us know in the comments below.
Even as I was typing it at the beginning of this post, I got the red squiggly the first time around, it’s just weird (case in point). I suppose that’s what happens when someone creates a singsongy mnemonic like “I before E except after C.” It spreads like wildfire. Like “Hugs not drugs.” (Do you know how many people have been suffocated by hugs in the 2012 alone? [citation needed])
I bring this up because a handful of oneword™ visitors brought it up in their entries. But not everyone got hung up on spelling, others related it to love, like Ashley:
I received your love like a tidal wave. Powerful, strong, and washed over me like no one else could.
As did Rêver:
Sometimes, all we want is to receive love. After all, isn’t that what life is worth living for? I’d like to wake up every day knowing that my love is reciprocal and that while I take the time to give—he will take the time to receive. And vice versa.
The receiving of a gift gave Elsie a feeling of belonging:
She received his gift with open hands, relieved, almost, that she had finally been given some attention. It had seemed to her lately that he had despised her, or not actually cared about her. A little smug look passed over her face in the car that day—she was important to someone. She was important to him. She wasn’t just some invisible little girl, counted out by everyone. There was something in her that was special. Something unique, and she just needed to find it.
While our friend Belinda paints a scene of subtle envy and friendship through dialogue:
“Was it well-received?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. I’m glad.”
She pours him another glass of Kahlua. The ice exhales against the glass. White Russian ahoy.
“Your family’s so supportive,” she muses as he drinks. “I wish mine was.”
“Hey, we’ll stick this out together, okay?”
“Okay.”
“I’m serious. We’ll stick this out.”
“Okay,” she says. “I believe you.”
And finally, Penny leaves us with a cliffhanger:
Geneva could see nothing through the boarded up windows but the yellow flicker of the lighthouse in the cove. She sat and waited for the tea kettle to boil, hoping the chamomile would calm her nerves. Why not use the china? I never do. She grinned and reached for a cup. It rocked from her hand and shattered on the floor when the shore received the waves and all went dark.
These are just some of the many great entries about the word “receive.” Even after ten years and a day, it still thrills me to see the power of one word.
*EIEIO
These are selected excerpts of entries from oneword.com, and are just a few of many great entries—too many to list here.
The quoted writing above remains the property of the original author, reprinted here under oneword™’s terms of service. If you are an author whose work was printed in this piece and would like it removed or for us to link directly to your website or blog, please contact us.
