Monday, February 18, 2008

I'm too sick to blog

*cough cough wheeze*

And I had to walk home from the bus stop today in the cold. Took me the better part of an hour - noooo!!! I woke up this morning thinking "I should call in sick, and then just lie here all day in my warm bed, drifting in and out of sleep, all nuzzly and warm."

And while I tried to write that, I kept thinking "Lay down? Lie down? What the heck is it?"

Well for all you grammarly sticklers out there, here it is:
usage lay has been used intransitively in the sense of “lie” since the 14th century. The practice was unremarked until around 1770; attempts to correct it have been a fixture of schoolbooks ever since. Generations of teachers and critics have succeeded in taming most literary and learned writing, but intransitive lay persists in familiar speech and is a bit more common in general prose than one might suspect. Much of the problem lies in the confusing similarity of the principal parts of the two words. Another influence may be a folk belief that lie is for people and lay is for things. Some commentators are ready to abandon the distinction, suggesting that lay is on the rise socially. But if it does rise to respectability, it is sure to do so slowly: many people have invested effort in learning to keep lie and lay distinct. Remember that even though many people do use lay for lie, others will judge you unfavorably if you do.

Lifted direct from the Merriam Webster online dictionary. So while you ponder the transitional nature of grammatical superiority, I'll go lay down and get some shuteye before tomorrow, which will surely bring more cycling, walking, and yes, even running.

My kind and generous nature insists that I leave you with this image. Sweet dreams.

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