I thought that’s all there was to it. You could add something about either and neither, if you wanted. And something about German surnames? Neither Einstein nor Frankenstein would like it if we spelled them wrong; your neighbor is a sensei and he wouldn’t like it either. Weird, huh?
In the movie “A Boy Named Charlie Brown” there is a song about the rule. IIRC, the other exceptions were about words that had to do with chemicals like “caffeine and codeine.”
“I” before “E”
Except after “C”
Or when sounded like “A”
As in neighbor and weigh.
Except for eight exceptions:
Weird, height, and foreign leisure,
Neither, seize nor forfeit, either.
(The eight exceptions miss a number of others, such as–but not limited to–
sleight
heist
feisty
geisha
and heifer.)
I would generally exempt foreign words from the rule, so geisha and all the German “ei” words get a pass. There are quite enough holes in the rules in the English language.
(pluto and beatle, glacier and society follow the “except after c” rule.)
another important exception is the name “Keith” which i myself bear… my god… my entire school career has been confounded with countless yearbook entries to “Kieth”…it’s so annoying!
The only thing a nonconformist hates more than a conformist is another nonconformist who does not conform to the prevailing standards of nonconformity.