This was good too, exemplifying the dilemma I face if someone kindly asks me whether I’d like to “go lay down and get some sleep.” While there’s nothing I’d like better than some sleep, I simply won’t be able to rest after hearing an innocent transitive verb abused so wantonly. People, this is not hard. I can sympathize with difficulties in the past tense, but even our dog has mastered the present tense, so I’m confident that (most) humans can too. (Tell her to “go lay down” and she’ll just look at you quizzically while I wince. Tell her to “go lie down,” and she does.)
Ok. I’m done. You may now resume your weekend activities, assuming that you don’t intend to engage in any grammatically risky behavior. Better safe than sorry, folks: don’t party unless you designate a grammarian.
Only if you ask the right way.
9 comments:
Reb. Mary, it's so affirming to know that there is someone else out there who is a stickler for grammar. While I may not get it right in the more tricky instances, these are two of my pet peeves as well!
On a related topic, I cringe when I hear someone tell a child to say, "Jesus died for my sins." AAAGGH. He died for ME!!!!!
Pam, would it cheer you up to classify that usage as an instrumental dative of cause rather than a dative of interest?
Why, that dog is smiling! :D
I have only recently started undoing the lie/lay damage done to my children's grammar. It's an uphill battle; better to get it right in the first place.
Have you discovered Richard Mitchell's old newsletters? They're good for these snowy afternoons. :)
http://www.sourcetext.com/grammarian/
You are singing my song, sister!
Cheryl, who has been wondering lately why it bugs me so much when people mix up "its" and "it's"--I mean, tney sound the same, right? So why do I care?
HA, Cheryl, it's been irking me lately too. So far I've been trying to redirect my attention as quickly as possible, so I can't have time to harbor a tiny criticism against the author. (And sometmes its actualy a typpo)
;)
HA! The word verification just now has me typing "anelyze"...
Ladies, my dad didn't give us crossword puzzles to do on rainy afternoons. He gave us magazines with random sentances highlited to diagram.
Sounds like fun to me, MooreMama. I LOVE diagramming sentences... or at least I used to. ;)
You girls are hard core :)
I, personally, am having fun with the typos in these comments! (Now, should that be "typo's", since the apostrophe is in place of the missing letters in "typographical errors"?)
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