By the way, have you ever noticed that one of the exceptions to the "i before e, except after c" rule is weird.
No I hadn't, what is it?
quote:"i" before "e" except after "c", or when pronounced as "eh" as in "neighbor" and "weigh".
This video from LangFocus, Why Is English Spelling So Damn Weird?!, might hold some clues:
The rest of that episode of "I Love Lucy" contains classic scenes. Such as Lucy having Ricky read a bedtime story out loud and it contains words with "-ough" which is pronounced differently every time. Or the tutor's exercise of pronouncing English vowels in the typically weird English way and when it comes to Ricky's turn he pronounces them in the normal Spanish manner: "Where did you learn that?" "Havana, Cuba. What's your excuse?"