Apropos of an earlier comment

I must use it more often. Rarely need to now that I’m retired. Somehow telling an awkward person that their irrelevant comment was not germane to the issue was deeply satisfying.

Another version is:

i before e,
Except after c,
Or when sounded as "a",
As in neighbor and weigh
But seizure and seize do what they please.

👍
I haven't heard that word in years!

Marydoll

The pedants here, who are linguists, would probably always use à propos.
The English version just doesn't cut it for me.

How about, forget the French and say,
Germane to an earlier comment .

BridgetPark

Sodapop, you are so clever, I love this!!

Sadly I can't take the credit for this BridgetPark I found it on FB.
Any errors are of course mine.

sodapop

Living in France obviously hasn't rubbed off on me.

😂

Sodapop, you are so clever, I love this!!

Living in France obviously hasn't rubbed off on me.

The pedants here, who are linguists, would probably always use à propos.
The English version just doesn't cut it for me.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202402/medium-942744-apropos.png https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202402/medium-816121-unapropos.png

Both apropos and unapropos are in the OED.

A borrowing from the French but apropos is not incorrect when writing in English.

And this from the Washington Post:

The iciest glaciers make idiocies out of the conceit of “except after c.”

I learn ed this as”I before E except after C when the sound is EeE” which works most of the time.

RosiesMaw

As it IS Pedants’ Corner you won’t be offended I hope if I point out the term is à propos (Two words)

Touché!

I have wondered for a while whether the "rule" is actually more often wrong than right?

A challenge maybe for some of you.
I will leave you all to it.
I rarely venture in here.

As it IS Pedants’ Corner you won’t be offended I hope if I point out the term is à propos (Two words)

i was taught that it was,

I before E, except after C,
when the sound is EE

I must save this thread 😂😂😂
And send it to DD who teaches foreign students.

Love this. It's such a complicated language!

Brilliant!

Pity I am no longer teaching as I would certainly have used it. My advanced foreign students used to love it when English didn’t “work”.

Wonderful!

Brilliant!

Very good!

Love it 👍

I just love this

Took me a minute, but got it in the end!