A good sturdy bone saw should always proceed the balling of the melon.

I have to agree with Fredrik. Honestly, I can't see Illyria leading anything at this point in her development. She's still pretty much a hatchling that is only beginning to understand how things work.

balling of the melon

*giggle*

t /twelve

Did anyone ever figure out why a psychiatric institution *just happened* to have a bone saw laying (lying? I can never keep laying/lying straight) around in the hallway? Did they perform impromptu surgeries in the patient rooms? Was it to handle those pesky hangnails?

Flebotnum. And lying.

So what's the grammar rule-of-thumb to help you differentiate between laying and lying?

So what's the grammar rule-of-thumb to help you differentiate between laying and lying?

There's really no good mnemonic (at least, not that I've ever found). Lay always refers to someone or something else -- you lay a book down on the table, or you lay someone, or you get laid (by someone). If you're doing it on your own -- lying down, lying around -- it's lie. It's almost always lie.

(And "now I lay me down to sleep", on which I blame a lot of this mess, is correct only because it's "lay me" -- if it weren't for that pronoun in there, it would be "now I lie down..." Stupid fucking poetic structures.)

But... "Now I lay me down" sound so much prettier.

I need to lie down.

Okay, thanks.... I'll try to pound that into my brain. You'd think after an English degree and 12 years as a technical writer I'd have that down, but I have a mental block. I have to look it up every time.

When my mother was little, she thought, "Now I lay me" was a Latin word.

Okay, thanks.... I'll try to pound that into my brain. You'd think after an English degree and 12 years as a technical writer I'd have that down, but I have a mental block. I have to look it up every time.

Go sex. Choose sex. I mean as your memory device. You lay someone (or something, and ewww). You lie (about it).