Lie and Lay

[vargas111]

I know I am new here, but I’ve seen the error enough time from otherwise good writers that I just HAVE to get this out:

"Lie" and "lay" are two different verbs.

“Lie” means to recline (It also means to tell a falsehood, but that’s a different word.) “Lie” is an "intransitive" verb: it never takes an object.

“Lay” means to place an object or person in a reclining position, sometimes specifically for the purpose of having sex. "Lay" is "trnsitive"; it usually has an object, at least implicitly.

Some confusion arises because the past tense of “Lie” is “Lay”

Let’s look at some examples

“I lie awake at nights remembering my first love.”
“I was lying awake that night remembering my first love.”
“I lay awake all that night, remembering my first love.”
“How many nights have I lain awake, remembering my first love!”

“She is so beautiful with my semen slowly leaking from her. Gently, I lay her in my bed.”
I was laying her in my bed, so beautiful with my semen slowly leaking from her, when her husband appeared.
“She was so beautiful with my semen slowly leaking from her. Gently I laid her in my bed.”
“She is always so beautiful with my semen slowly leaking from her. Every night since the first time, I have gently laid her in my bed.”

This is consistent with the use of “lay” as a synonym for “have sex.”
“I got her drunk and laid her.”
“I’m so horny I want to go out and get laid.”
Sometimes men also talk about wanting to “get laid.” but usually we have to do the laying.

If any female subjects would like to practice grammar by making me the direct of object of "lay" I'm willing.

(I'll bet if these had been the examples used in school, fewer people would confuse the two words.)

 

[Guest]

 

[cantdog]

Yeah, but how often do ya get lied?

 

[R. Richard]

I thought so much of the problem that I have submitted a HowTo article. It should be posted any day now.
R. Richard

 

[snooper]

I thought so much of the problem that I have submitted a HowTo article. It should be posted any day now.
R. Richard

Have you taken into account the differences between Queen's English and the Australian, Canadian, and US versions of the same language? The "misuse" of words is often just a matter of dialect.

The classic examples are "suspenders" as an item of men's clothing, and "braces" in that and the orthodontic contexts.

Another is "pavement" on opposite sides of the Atlantic (excluding, I am told, Connecticut).

 

[the bemused one]

Eek! Grammar. I hate grammar, i do, you know. yup yup.

 

[R. Richard]

Actually, with lay and lie, the problem is not so much the different dialects, but older uses of the verbs. It is correct usage to say "The ship lays at anchor." This last despite the fact that the grammatically correct form is "The ship lies at anchor."

"There's no damn reason for it, it is just policy."

 

[McKenna]

Thanks for the information Vargas.

I ran into the lay/lie question at work the other day. I think I'll have an easier time remembering which is which!

 

[vargas111]

I am not an expert on British English, but I think I have read enough to know that a one would never read in the London Times, "She laid in the bed while I fucker her"

The differences are mainly pronunciation, some spellings (ou/u, ll/l), some diction (knock up/awaken by knocking) and the odd to us Americans of putting the punctuation outside the quotation marks.

For the person who "hates" grammar, please don't. She's actually very nice and can do amazing things for you, if you get to know her.

"The subject grasped her dangling participle imperatively and conjoined his direct object to her waiting indirect one."

 

[tolyk]

Re: Re: Lie and Lay

Sometimes lieing as well.

Yeah, but how often do you get lied?

*chuckle* Great joke Lime =) It took about half a second for it to click in, but great wit on that one

Um, Cantdog, you might want to re-read it and what it is refering too

 

[champagne1982]

The rooster was lying in the same straw as the hen laid her egg in after she had lain down with the rooster and got laid once he lied to her?

 

[cantdog]

Tolyk, I know this stuff. I'll agree there's a need to reitierate it; three of the people I've edited had this lie/lay difficulty.

But for me it's non-serious. Sorry.

 

[tolyk]

Tolyk, I know this stuff. I'll agree there's a need to reitierate it; three of the people I've edited had this lie/lay difficulty.

But for me it's non-serious. Sorry.

Oh, I meant the joke that it seemed like you didn't get from your responce

I wasn't responding to the topic at all, just thread-jacking

 

[Clare Quilty]

Someone should start an effect vs. affect thread. Even more galling are the people who use then in place of than.

 

[snooper]

... and the odd to us Americans of putting the punctuation outside the quotation marks. ...

I don't understand this. In the UK we put the punctuation inside the marks as in:

He said, "I want to get laid."

The only time it is the other way round is when they are for emphasis as in:

He caught the train which was misleading called an "express".

Clare: It is "tounge" that really annoys me.

 

[R. Richard]

I finally got my 'HowTo' on the use of Lie or Lay approved! It is now available for your reading pleasure (5 votes only, please!).

 

[snooper]

I finally got my 'HowTo' on the use of Lie or Lay approved! It is now available for your reading pleasure (5 votes only, please!).

It is generally considered courteous when asking for 5 votes to give the URL of the offering concerned. Out of the kindness of my heart, I will advise readers that yours is http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=157479.