Spelling mistakes

24567

Comments

  • OceanaOceana North Sea
    Delphinus said:
    PRESENT: You currently lay an object. You currently lie down.
    "She lays herself down. He lies on the carpet."

    PAST: You previously laid an object. You previously lay down.
    "Last week, she laid the blankets. Yesterday, he lay on the floor sleeping."
    So does lay imply a movement, and lie a state? I always have trouble with lie and lay, but more in the laying - lying choices. That the past of lie is lay is not helping matters.
  • EldEld
    edited October 2012
    Oceana said:
    Delphinus said:
    PRESENT: You currently lay an object. You currently lie down.
    "She lays herself down. He lies on the carpet."

    PAST: You previously laid an object. You previously lay down.
    "Last week, she laid the blankets. Yesterday, he lay on the floor sleeping."
    So does lay imply a movement, and lie a state? I always have trouble with lie and lay, but more in the laying - lying choices. That the past of lie is lay is not helping matters.
    To lie is an intransitive verb, synonymous with "to recline". Past tense: lay, past participle: lain.
    To lay is a transitive verb, synonymous with "to put (down)". Past tense: laid, past participle: laid.
    You lay sheets on a bed and then lie on the bed. Yesterday, you lay on a bed on which you had laid sheets. Tomorrow, you might lie on a new bed, on which you have not previously lain.
    The reflexive "lay oneself down" is a confusing example because it's a (correct) use of the transitive "lay" with essentially identical meaning to the intransitive "lie".
  • @Oceana: Lay/laid specifies a direct object, even if that object is "yourself." Lie/lay doesn't specify an object; it's implied. So -- and these are both present tense -- you would "lie on the couch" or "lay yourself on the couch."
  • OceanaOceana North Sea
    edited October 2012
    I am lying on a couch.
    I am laying myself on the couch?
    I am going to lay myself down?
  • EldEld
    edited October 2012
    Oceana said:
    I am lying on a couch.
    I am laying myself on the couch?
    Yes, but the two are a bit different in that case (that is, both are grammatically correct, but the meanings are slightly different). "I am lying on the couch" is true while you are lying there on the couch. "I am laying myself on the couch" implies (to me) that you are in the act of getting onto the couch (rather than having been there for a while). I laid myself on the couch, so now I am lying on the couch.
  • Please keep up the good pointers. This is a good reading for me, hopefully I'll learn the US grammar
  • Salik said:
    Please keep up the good pointers. This is a good reading for me, hopefully I'll learn the US grammar
    lol y u wanna do that?
  • edited October 2012

















    just kidding
  • AmunetAmunet Spokane, Washington, USA
    I suppose that I will also add that I will advise anyone who sends me a message or a tell about their grammar. I already proofread quite a bit for members of the UUC, whether I know them IC or not, so don't be shy. I won't eviscerate anyone for intermittent OOC communication.
    My avatar is an image created by this very talented gentleman, of whose work I am extremely jealous. It was not originally a picture of Amunet, but it certainly looks a great deal like how I envision her!
  • So Amunet, give me some pointers here? Also how would I with correct grammar ask if your singel?
  • Iocun said:
    You're all such a horrible bunch of couch potatoes. I'm going to lay fire to your couches.
    Quit lying, Iocun. I'm one of the best couch potatoes around.
  • Here's one: 

    Waste = trash, something that did not go to optimal use. 

    Waist = narrowest part of the torso.

    You know who you are. 
    Mathonwy said:
    dactylic hexameter is
    way more interesting than the inside of anyone's vagina.
  • Fun fact: I first accidentally wrote "coach potatoes" in a thread about spelling mistakes before editing it.
  • @Iocun: You were just channeling your inner Canadian. Nothing to worry about if you play a Cyrenian.
  • Cyrenians from Cyrenia.

  • OceanaOceana North Sea
    More spelling: Is it Silas's comment or Silas' comment?
  • edited October 2012
    Silas's. Silas' has become accepted usage, but I was taught that it's only correct to leave off the trailing s for possessive plurals. "The Maynards' house," for instance.

  • edited October 2012
    With a name like Denis, the most common would be Denis's. With foreign, classical, ancient names, it would be Socrates' ideas.

    That leaves Silas there as an enigma. Is he ancient and foreign like Socrates, or a Denis?

    My vote (to contradict) goes for Silas'.



    I don't really know in this particular case, but the comments are from this book (which Salik might like):
  • EldEld
    edited October 2012
    The use of just the apostrophe (Silas' rather than Silas's) was formerly standard (given, for example, in Priestly's Grammar, from 1798), but has largely given way in current use to the 's form. The Chicago Manual of Style gives an optional use of the bare apostrophe for words ending in a 'z' sound (such as Pericles', to give an example both ancient and Achaean), as well is in constructions of the form "for _ sake" (so be good for goodness' sake). . Some references also offer the exception @Rovelda mentions for ancient, classical, and especially Biblical names (Jesus', Moses', Hercules'); I'm not sure how common this is. The Associated Press Stylebook recommends just the apostrophe for all nouns ending in s.

    tl;dr: Current usage is mixed, but generally seems to favour the 's form. For informal writing, take your pick. If you're writing for publication, find out what style guide the publication in question uses, and follow its recommendation.

    Edit: If I contradicted myself between the beginning and end of that comment, it's because I was researching it as I wrote, so give more weight to the references than to my own generalisations.
  • And a pet peeve of mine: One phenomenon, two phenomena.
  • OceanaOceana North Sea
    Oh, that reminds me: Hierophant (and not Heirophant).
  • It drives me nuts when people spell 'lagniappe' with only one p. 
  • I once saw a classmate spell it 'lanyap'.
    ________________________
    The soul of Ashmond says, "Always with the sniping."

    (Clan): Ictinus says, "Stop it Jiraishin, you're making me like you."
  • edited October 2012

    A few more from the village idiot:

    dual - having two.
    EX) The fearsome warrior wields a dual-bladed axe.

    duel - a fight between two people
    EX) I do not duel because I am a pacifist.

    Bugs me to no end.

    ALSO! Improper use of the word 'literally.' I don't care if it is widely accepted, I refuse to sucuumb to the whims of society because they are stupid.

    literally - in the strictest sense. Word for word. Actually, without exaggeration or innacuracy.

    "My eyes literally popped out of my head!" <--- Ouch. This is wrong. On many levels. The word you want to use here is 'figuratively.'

    versus

    "Penwize bashes so much he literally beat Achaea!" <--- This is truth. Penwize has beaten Achaea.

    One last one for giggles:

    "I'm such a whiner and a troll and I'm so frustrated with people hating me I literally quit Achaea last night!" <--- Then why are you still here? GTFO and make good on your statement.

  • Aldeberan said:

    ALSO! Improper use of the word 'literally.' I don't care if it is widely accepted, I refuse to sucuumb to the whims of society because they are stupid.

    literally - in the strictest sense. Word for word. Actually, without exaggeration or innacuracy.

    "My eyes literally popped out of my head!" <--- Ouch. This is wrong. On many levels. The word you want to use here is 'figuratively.'

    versus

    "Penwize bashes so much he literally beat Achaea!" <--- This is truth. Penwize has beaten Achaea.

    This is true, except (as is often the case) when one's trying to evoke the literal image for comedic effect.
  • Aldeberan said:
    "My eyes literally popped out of my head!" <--- Ouch. This is wrong. On many levels. The word you want to use here is 'figuratively.'
    While I agree that using 'literally' as a generic intensifier is frustrating (not because it's "wrong", but because it's a useful word and there's not really a good replacement), the bolded is incorrect. Using 'figuratively' would be very far from the intended meaning.
    Aldeberan said:
    I don't care if it is widely accepted, I refuse to sucuumb to the whims of society because they are stupid.
    It's pretty much inevitable, it's a tradition older than the word "literally". It's happened to basically every word that means anything like "truthfully" (seriously, truly, very, really, etc.), some have even lost their original meaning entirely.
  • OH here's one I see frequently

    it's the DAIS of creation, not the bloody dias. I see people saying Dias and I cringe. (Any other past IOJD/Masons/Demolay around?)


    image
  • OceanaOceana North Sea
    edited October 2012
    Rogue and not rouge. Rouge is a powder for cheeks or a colour in French.
Sign In or Register to comment.