GHOTI = FISH

A Playful Critique of English Spelling

Welcome, friend, to English’s maze,
Where letters dance and meanings haze.
GHOTI, they claim, is just like "fish,"
A linguistic joke, a quirky dish.

Take the GH from "enough" or "tough,"
It’s not a "g," but "f"—fair enough!
The rules, you see, bend out of sight,
As logic takes a silent flight.

Now add the O from "women," my dear,
It’s "i" this time, though strange to hear.
A simple vowel, yet so defiant,
Twisting sounds like a vocal giant.

Then comes TI, where "nation" resides,
Turning to "sh," it slyly hides.
How does "ti" make such a sound?
In English logic, it’s tightly bound.

So GHOTI, though baffling at first glance,
Becomes "fish" with a spelling dance.
A playful jab at spelling’s game,
Where rules exist, but none remain.

Consider too, the silent crowd,
Letters lurking, yet never loud.
"Sword" and "gnome," where sounds don’t show,
Their stealthy nature makes them glow.

And what of "ough"? A maddening feat,
Enough, through, though, and incomplete.
Each word a test of tongue and mind,
A chaos of rules, rarely aligned.

GHOTI reminds us: English is art,
A puzzle, a game, a linguistic heart.
So let us laugh and not despair,
At silent letters and sounds unfair.

For in this maze of quirks and fun,
Lies the beauty of words, for everyone.
GHOTI, "fish," and the rest in line—
A masterpiece of the human mind.