Rcintron
Scholar
Why do some people write "athiest" instead of "atheist"? Is it a correct variation of "atheist"?, or is "atheist" one of those "difficult" words to spell?
NotJesus
Unsaviory
It's just a mistake.
sphenisc
Philosopher
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2004
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- 6,233
All atheists are "atheist", but some atheists are more "atheist" than others. The athiest atheists are athier than the less athy atheists.
I think.
Piscivore
Smelling fishy
It is not widely known, but "athy" is an obscure Hungarian word meaning "possessing larger than normal genitalia". During the uptight 1950s, "athiest"- as in "Have you met Jimmy? He's the athiest!"- became common slang among hipsters and schoolgirls to denote which was the, er, "alpha male" of a group.
The words can be used interchangably, as there is an almost complete overlap between the two groups.
The words can be used interchangably, as there is an almost complete overlap between the two groups.
Rcintron
Scholar
English is not my first language, so I actually don't know that rule. But that would explain why so many people make the same mistake. Thanks.
NotJesus
Unsaviory
The rule applies to words where 'ie' or 'ei' are part of the same syllable, generally pronounced as a long 'e' -- piece, thief, receive, etc. It's not useful for words where the letters are pronounced separately -- atheist, deity, diet, etc.
[Edited for boneheaded misspelling.]
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Absolutely correct, but ...
... and which part of second grade did you get taught that in?
English speakers aren't good at syllable counting anyway, since unstressed syllables have a tendency to get swallowed or dipthongized, and semivowels such as /r/ and /l/ have a tendency to come apart. (Ask a Texan, sometime, how many syllables there are in "oil" -- "OY-ul") I've know too many people who pronounce "atheist" as two syllables to be confident of the usefulness of your explanation.
NotJesus
Unsaviory
Hey, I'm quite proud of my achievements in second grade!
It violates the rule because it isn't English it's ancient greek. A (no) the (god) ist (believer) . I just remember the (ist) is like commun(ist), evangel(ist) or empiric(ist).
I always thought the i before e thing was the worst rule I learned in the second grade. You've made it make sense. Learn something new everyday.
The Atheist
The Grammar Tyrant
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Dear Bob, this is so easy.
-ist is a very common suffix in English:-
therap-ist, philanthrop-ist, antropolog-ist, etc. etc. and atheist is just another. People who write "athiest" are just showing lack of language skills - which, if English is not your native language, is quite acceptable.
-ist is a very common suffix in English:-
therap-ist, philanthrop-ist, antropolog-ist, etc. etc. and atheist is just another. People who write "athiest" are just showing lack of language skills - which, if English is not your native language, is quite acceptable.
SusanB-M1
Incurable Optimist
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2006
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- 3,766
'... when the ie rhymes with me.' - which, reading on further, I see has already been mentioned. (Exceptions: seize, weir and weird, plus, increasingly, either and neither.)
My screen reader reads all spelling errors as they are, so 'weird' spelt 'wierd' is pronounced 'wired'!!
Edited also to add I liked #3! I would put a smiley here if I'd worked out how to do that.
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... and in many dialects of English, the exceptions include "atheist." As I said, dipthongs and syllable breaks are tricky, and the idea of pronouncing atheist as a three syllable word is not universal.
Rcintron
Scholar
From what I've read, people whose native language is english are precisely the ones that make the mistake. Because of the i before e rule.
RenaissanceBiker
Eats shoots and leaves.
It's not pronounced at-heist? Carp!
Foolmewunz
Grammar Resistance Leader, TLA Dictator
Let's just get rid of that old i before e except after c rule. The idiot who thought it up didn't account for the hundreds of exceptions. So, they modified it to add "unless pronouced as a long "a" as in "neighbor and weigh" (so that it continued to rhyme). Now they have to add, unless is the middle of a polysyllable. And then they can add a line about "weird" being well, weird, ... Any rule with so many exceptions deserves to be an amendment to the Constitution! That's where abject confusion belongs!
R-biker: Weird Carp! First, the root is "theism" or "theist", so the pronunciation when you add the prefix is "ay-thee-ist".... Second, I think T.A. knows, for instance that Philanthropist is pronounced phil-an-thro-pist, but was just using it to show the "ist" is a suffix.
R-biker: Weird Carp! First, the root is "theism" or "theist", so the pronunciation when you add the prefix is "ay-thee-ist".... Second, I think T.A. knows, for instance that Philanthropist is pronounced phil-an-thro-pist, but was just using it to show the "ist" is a suffix.
The Atheist
The Grammar Tyrant
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- 36,364
Agree entirely, but I have seen second-language English speakers make the mistake for exactly that dumb "i before e" rule.
People going too the beach however, are almost exclusively native English speakers. (I hesitate to use the word "users")
RSLancastr
www.StopSylvia.com
Some people are athey, some are athier, but only one can be The Athiest.
I rarely see someone similarly misspell theist or theism.
I rarely see someone similarly misspell theist or theism.
TragicMonkey
Poisoned Waffles
The only firm rule in English is that most of the rules have so many exceptions to them that they might as well not be considered rules at all. This frustrates the speakers of more logical languages. To whom we reply, when they rant about it, "you are looking at the English and expecting logic, and you think we're the crazy ones?"