i before e except after c and in WEIRD words. Append list. We must mention the tendency to invent new word usage to take care of political and social correctness. Then there are the jerks who invent all of the unnecessary terms for computer users. Why spam and not junk mail, software instead of programs, etc. How many people say impact instead of affect and effect (fuzzying up the language, to coin another unnecessary word), say proactive when they mean active.