# Spelling weird wierd **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 18, 2004, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-weird-wierd/245853 "2004-05-18T22:18:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![luluBahrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e5b9ba/32.png) [@luluBahrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/luluBahrain)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-weird-wierd/245853/1 "2004-05-18T22:18:55Z")
Please for the love of all that is good in this world. Weird is spelled **WEIRD**. An easy way to remember this is to think “We are weird”. See then you remember that weird starts with a W and then an E…not an I, An E for goodness sakes. That is all ---
**Author:** ![Greathouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greathouse/32/2992_2.png) [@Greathouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greathouse)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-weird-wierd/245853/2 "2004-05-18T22:42:40Z")
Excellent point. it is wierd when someone does make that mistake. ---
**Author:** ![Greathouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greathouse/32/2992_2.png) [@Greathouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greathouse)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-weird-wierd/245853/3 "2004-05-18T22:46:40Z")
> [@Greathouse](#): > > Excellent point. it is wierd when someone does make that mistake. Ok, I can add grammer and capitalization to my list of things I need to work on. :wally ---
**Author:** ![UselessGit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/74df32/32.png) [@UselessGit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UselessGit)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-weird-wierd/245853/4 "2004-05-18T22:51:14Z")
I don’t mind spelling mistakes so long as the punctuation is right, personally. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-weird-wierd/245853/5 "2004-05-18T23:14:14Z")
Didn’t you ever get taught ’ I before E except after C’ I blame that phraise for causing my dyslexia 😉 ---
**Author:** ![lightingtool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/57b2e6/32.png) [@lightingtool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lightingtool)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-weird-wierd/245853/6 "2004-05-18T23:27:34Z")
Thanks for the tip. If I don’t use a spell check, weird is one of the many words I always miss. Your little saying will hopefully get me to spell it right on occasion. Another handy one is friend. Just remember to “Fri (fry) your friends!” Ok, I’ve spell-checked twice, previewed once, let’s see if I can post this without spelling anything wrong… ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheValley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-weird-wierd/245853/7 "2004-05-19T02:10:52Z")
> [@lightingtool](#): > > Another handy one is friend. Just remember to “Fri (fry) your friends!” Wow, your first-grade teacher had a more twisted sense of humor than mine. Mine taught us, “ **I** am your friend till the **end**.” :smack: What part of my brain remembers this?! ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-weird-wierd/245853/8 "2004-05-19T02:14:06Z")
They’re both stupid ways to spell _wired_. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-weird-wierd/245853/9 "2004-05-19T02:25:53Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > ’ I before E except after C’ ‘Or when it sounds like an A As in “neighbor” and “weigh”’ In weird cases, this rule is insufficient. Neither science nor more leisurely pursuits can in good conscience seize upon the reason for this. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-weird-wierd/245853/10 "2004-05-19T03:10:40Z")
> [@luluBahrain](#): > > Please for the love of all that is good in this world. > Weird is spelled **WEIRD**. Preach it, sista! (Or brotha, as the case may be.) Signed, The poster often refered to as WierdDave ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-weird-wierd/245853/11 "2004-05-19T03:14:26Z")
huh I always thought it was Weirddaev ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-weird-wierd/245853/12 "2004-05-19T03:49:28Z")
> [@Weirddave](#): > > Preach it, sista! (Or brotha, as the case may be.) > > Signed, > > The poster often refered to as WierdDave Calling you “WierdDave” is a clear-cut case of descrimination. ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-weird-wierd/245853/13 "2004-05-19T03:52:47Z")
‘I’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c,’ or when sounding like ‘a,’ as in neighbor and weigh. To do otherwise is weird. Or foreign. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-weird-wierd/245853/14 "2004-05-19T03:53:49Z")
Here’s the full, authoritative verse: I before E except after C or when sounded as A in “neighbor” and “weigh.” But “their,” “ **weird** ,” and “either,” “Foreign,” “seize,” “neither,” “Leisure,” “forfeit,” and “height” Are exceptions spelled right. Don’t ask me where I learned that, but it’s been rattling around my brain for at least 20 years. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-weird-wierd/245853/15 "2004-05-19T05:30:39Z")
[You left out a few:](http://alt-usage-english.org/I_before_E.html) > [@](#): > > beige, cleidoic, codeine, conscience, deify, deity, deign, dreidel, eider, eight, either, feign, feint, feisty, foreign, forfeit, freight, gleization, gneiss, greige, greisen, heifer, heigh-ho, height, heinous, heir, heist, leitmotiv, neigh, neighbor, neither, peignoir, prescient, rein, science, seiche, seidel, seine, seismic, seize, sheik, society, sovereign, surfeit, teiid, veil, vein, weight, weir, weird, caffeine, casein, codeine, deil, disseize, either, geisha, inveigle,keister, leisure, monteith, neither, obeisance, phenolphthalein, phthalein, protein, seize, seizin, sheik, sheila, specie, species, teiid In other words, the I before E rule sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Einmon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Einmon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Einmon)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-weird-wierd/245853/16 "2004-05-19T07:51:46Z")
Being of a foreign persuasion, after reading “wierd” for the umpteenth time I started wondering whether it indeed was the correct spelling. Same goes for “villian” instead of “villain” and after a recent “viscous/viscious” thread my “vicious” spelling felt wonky all of a sudden. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-weird-wierd/245853/17 "2004-05-19T08:12:34Z")
There are two words I consistently **CANNOT** spell: Guarantee, and Restaurant No matter how many times I look them up and try to memorize them, I cannot spells those words. Other than that I’m a pretty good speller. Certainly never had a problem spelling wierd. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![luluBahrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e5b9ba/32.png) [@luluBahrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/luluBahrain)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-weird-wierd/245853/18 "2004-05-19T15:51:42Z")
Well, I guess I’ll admit that I have a huge problem remembering how to spell either. In fact I don’t evn know if that is correct. I always want to put extra i’s and e’s in it. Plus, I use too many commas and right run on sentences. But, damn it, I can spell weird correctly. ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-weird-wierd/245853/19 "2004-05-19T16:23:18Z")
Oh thank you, thanks you, **luluBahrain** for bringing attention to this common spelling mistake!! It’s one of my biggest pet peeves. Whenever I come across weird spelled “wierd” in a thread on the SDMB, I am so annoyed, I skip the rest of the message in which it appears. ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-weird-wierd/245853/20 "2004-05-19T16:25:17Z")
Feel free to apply Gaudere’s Law to the previous post! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-weird-wierd/245853.md?page=2)