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.
Capitalism can change anything it wants, including some English language rules.