[michael_j_ward]

And in the context of discussing "whole word" vs "phonetic" systems of learning the English language, it seems like outright deception.

[taeric]

I'm assuming it isn't deception as much as it is a bit plain ignorance. I confess I have harbored the thought that English is not phonetic in the past. Is a common thing for folks to say; especially when trying to point out that English is hard.