George Bernard Shaw (GBS) was a famous Irish writer. He wanted to reform English spelling so that it was more logical. He asked the following question as an example:
How do we pronounce the word "ghoti"?
His answer was "fish".
How can "ghoti" and "fish" sound the same? GBS explained it like this:
• the gh = f as in rouGH
• the o = i as in wOmen
• the ti = sh as in naTIon
Of course, this was a joke. The word "ghoti" is not even a real word. But it showed the inconsistency of English spelling.
It is very important to understand that English spelling and English pronunciation are not always the same.
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