(via but does it float)
Use lay to mean put down, or place. And it requires a direct object, the thing that is put or placed. Hens lay eggs. Bricklayers lay bricks. Healers lay hands upon the infirm. In every case, lay has an object–eggs, bricks, hands. In other tenses, lay takes these forms: Hens laid eggs last week; Hens are laying eggs faster than ever; Hens had laid the eggs before the sun rose.
Lie means recline, or occupy a location. It does not take an object, because the subject can accomplish those things alone. The idle rich lie on beaches. The restless lie awake. The faithful will lie down in green pastures. Governors Island lies off Manhattan. Sleeping dogs just lie. The rich, the restless, the faithful, the island and the dogs need no help–no object to complete their actions. They simply lie there. And in other tenses, lie takes these forms: The rich are lying on the beach despite the shaky economy; The rich had lain on the beach before moving to the slopes.
Confusion arises because the past tense of lie also happens to be lay, playing a different role: The idle rich lay on the beach yesterday.
Source: The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage, 1999, by The New York Times Company.
These just in. For a more complete stroll down the Los Angeles segment of Memory Lane, hop on over to this thread.
Here’s a preview of “I Can’t Keep My Own Secrets: Six-Word Memoirs by Teens”, edited by SMITH Magazine. Features original video and images from the the amazing storytellers at SMITHTeens. Submit your own!
Leaked this hour! [click to continue…]
HELL YES. Alice in Chains, my favorite band that made depression sound beautiful, is dropping their first studio record in over a decade on September 29th. Entitled “Black Gives Way to Blue”, the artwork was unveiled today:
01. All Secrets Known
02. Check My Brain
03. Last Of My Kind
04. Your Decision
05. A Looking In View
06. When The Sun Rose Again
07. Acid Bubble
08. Lessons Learned
09. Take Her Out
10. Private Hell
11. Black Gives Way To Blue
They’ve also rolled out a brand new Web site, where you can listen to “A Looking in View” in its entirety. All new, all Alice, as heavy and dark as ever.
Also, now on YouTube is a 30-second preview of the first single from the record, “Check My Brain”:
Fall 2009 is sure smelling good.
With my cousin Sarah at the Alibi Room in Culver City, 08.10.2009. Can you get more LA than Korean tacos? We took down nine of ’em between the two of us. With Echigo Organic Microbrew. WIN.
