Monday, August 24, 2009

Lay Away? No Lie!!

Lately, I've noticed a few grammar errors in places I didn't expect. Not that I don't make plenty of my own mistakes, but some of these are coming from people who should know better.

On TV, too many sportscasters say,
"I have went. . ."
Makes me cringe. I go. I went. I have gone.

A writer for a news agency wrote,
"I have drank. . ."
Sorry TMZ breath. I drink. I drank. I have drunk.

Another writer I read just a minute ago wrote, "before laying down for his 11:00 AM nap." Nope nap-boy, it should be "before lying down for his 11:00 AM nap."

People lie, things lay. People lie like rugs. After they lay the rugs on the floor.

The trouble occurs when people confuse present tense "lay" meaning to set down or place an object with past tense "lay" referring to a person who was resting or reclining yesterday.

I lay the object down. I laid the object down. I have laid the object down.
Lay. Laid. Laid.
I lie down to nap. I lay down to nap. I have lain down to nap.
Lie. Lay. Lain.

Somewhere something is getting laid.

Thank you, Mrs. Linklater. Isn't it your bedtime?

3 comments:

emmapeelDallas said...

A couple of years ago at work I was provided with an "assistant" who reportedly had a master's degree in something but who couldn't write if her life depended on it. She was supposed to help me handle customer correspondence, but I canned her when I reviewed some of her letters. There were lots of grammar errors, but my favorite letter began, "We is so sorry to hear about you pain in you privates." Unfortunately, by the time I saw it, the letter had already gone out on company letterhead. I could only hope that the person who received it was as illiterate as the person who wrote it.

Jon said...

You haven't heard bad grammar until you've been to Texas! It's a way of life here. The guy on the radio constantly says "liberry" instead of "library". Another one that irks me is "Where it's at". Example: "I don't know where it's at". The MAYOR of Lubbock said that one the other day. Fortunately, most of these STUPID Texans have such thick accents that you can't understand what they are saying anyway.....

Chris said...

I have got laid.