From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!uwvax!jon
Newsgroups: net.nlang
Title: ghoti? gheh!
Article-I.D.: uwvax.473
Posted: Fri Jul  9 09:57:10 1982
Received: Sun Jul 11 02:14:48 1982

   'ghoti' has always annoyed me.  It actually breaks spelling rules,
   since 'gh' and 'ti' are pronounced funny only in certain environments.
   'gh' may be pronounced
	  'g' at the beginning of a word (ghost)
	  'g h' in a compound word (doghouse)
	  silent, following vowels (night)
	  'f', FOLLOWING vowels.  I can think of no case except following
		ou or au (rough draught)
    'o' pronounced as 'i' is even rarer.

    Thus, while 'ghoti' does compress several oddities into one string,
    it is absurd to suggest that it demonstrates English
    spelling/pronunciation.  In fact, I find that the quirks illustrated are
    among the easier rules of English. ible/able and ent/ant are much harder
    to get right.