So, to explain the rule: if you have three words, then the vowel order has to be I, A, O. In the case of two words, the first is almost always an I and the second is either an A or O. For example, Mish-mash, chit-chat, dilly-dally, tip-top, hip-hop, flip-flop, tic tac toe, sing-song, ding-dong, King-Kong, ping pong.
According to the secret rules of English it should be that way round.
I have heard of this rule but every one of your examples has the short I sound but life has a long I, it doesn’t sound better the way your examples do, does the rule ever apply elsewhere to the long I?
That’s a good point. There are (at least) two vowel sounds written with a letter “i”. A short sound like in “fin” and a diphthong like in “fine”. All the examples are the short sound, not the diphthong. So the rule described above probably only applies to the short sound.
I hate it too. It should be life/work balance. Life comes first. Work to live, not live to work
According to the secret rules of English it should be that way round.
I have heard of this rule but every one of your examples has the short I sound but life has a long I, it doesn’t sound better the way your examples do, does the rule ever apply elsewhere to the long I?
That’s a good point. There are (at least) two vowel sounds written with a letter “i”. A short sound like in “fin” and a diphthong like in “fine”. All the examples are the short sound, not the diphthong. So the rule described above probably only applies to the short sound.