Lay or lie?

It is an old construction at least 300+ years old.

Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep; If I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.

Then 'me' becomes the object in the sentence.

The offending sentence was, 'This pillow lets you lay down with your glasses on.'

Agree with you lizzie. The sentence you quoted is wrong.

You are correct, lizzie. The sentence should have read "This pillow lets you lie down..." 'Lie' is an intransitive verb.

It annoys me when the verb 'enjoy' is used on its own. Instead of saying e.g. "Enjoy your meal" so many people now say and write 'Enjoy'.

I agree, Lizzy. Don't get me started on lay/lie. It is very annoying - I blame song lyrics!

It's surprising to me how quickly 'lay down' rather than 'lie down' has become accepted as the norm, even by older people who must be used to the original use of lie (to lie down) and lay (to place something down, or lay an egg). I suppose it is a little confusing that 'lay' is also the past tense of 'lie'. I've even heard on the BBC a presenter describing islands which 'lay off the coast of Scotland' - (presumably they still do?). It really grates with me, but I suppose is American English and very catching.

The one I dislike is "I'm, sat here", instead of "I'm sitting here".

Bob Dylan: "Lay lady lay. Lay across my big brass bed."!!
It's his fault.

giulia

lizzypopbottle, I agree with you, but language is evolving all the time, so one day that structure may become the norm. After all, eventually we won't be here to keep everyone right.

And there was I thinking Bob Dylan was apostrophising his pet chicken.

Is that legal?

I agree, Lizzy.

I've also had a nice chuckle!

Haha giulia - our daughter was conceived whilst that was playing !

Marydoll The one I dislike is "I'm, sat here", instead of "I'm sitting here".

Lot's of people seem to have trouble with this one, but it is local dialect over a lot of the West from Gloucestershire southwards.

I agree. It should be 'lie'.
My pet hate at the moment is 'for free' .
What do you think? Shouldn't it just be 'free'? As in
"buy one get one (for) free"?

Yes, yes, yes!! ‘For free’ drives me mad! My other pet hates are using ‘floor’ instead of ‘ground’ and things that ‘need doing’ instead of ‘need (to be) done’

The lay- lie business gets my goat too, but then so does any other Americanism encroaching on British English!

I hate "it's a given" - a given what? And what annoys me even more is I just cannot remember what we said before "it's a given" made its way across the Atlantic. I think we said "it's a foregone conclusion", anyone out there to back me up on this?

"for free" standing joke when I was a child was that something was "free, gratis and for nothing"

The misuse of lay grates but it seems that it is common usage for younger people.

The end of civilisation as we know it...

I'd say that at leat 50% of people of all ages, have no idea how to spell or use correct punctuation and grammar.
The words myself and yourself are frequently used instead of me and you.
You was, instead of you were.
The list is endless and I find illiteracy to be incredibly irritating, especially in adults who, presumably, had an education.

Oh giulia, one of my favourites, brings back such memories. Sod the grammar!!!

Totally or totally like is my bugbear, as in “it was totally like awesome” oh and don’t get me started on the awful awesome!!

The supermarkets have only just managed to cope with fewer/less, as in 10 items per basket. 'For free' seems to be the next worthy campaign. Another rile is 'I have went' or, even worse, 'I was learned'....gggrrrrrrr!