Jayne ,'Jaynestown'
[NAFDA] "There will be an occasional happy, so that it might be crushed under the boot of the writer." From Zorro to Angel (including Wonderfalls and The Inside), this is where Buffistas come to anoint themselves in the bloodbath.
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).
Getting laid usually involves lying down. Lying afterwards is optional. I was hoping to continue this by throwing in "lye" but i really couldn't come up with anything that didn't give me a truly painful mental image.
I have a mental block
Seriously? I mostly remember the "it's almost always lie" part -- lay is only used in a very specialized sense. It's analogous to sit vs. set -- I sit all day, but I only set the table for company.
"Lay" takes an object. When you're getting laid, the object is you.
You know, that would be a great geek proposal.
"You are the object of all my verbs."
Seriously?
Well, that's kind of the nasty thing about mental blocks, isn't it? If it was logical, I'd be able to get rid of it and I wouldn't have this problem.
Really, usually grammar isn't a problem for me. Just a few glaring roadblocks.
I like the "go sex. Choose sex." idea, though. That might work as my memory device.
I always confuse "compose" and "comprise" no matter how often I look "comprise" up. I solve the problem by never, ever using "comprise". It's a thing.
balling of the melon
sounds like someone needs a girlfriend.
I always heard "chickens lay, people lie" and assumed that chicken=anything not people.
"You are the object of all my verbs."
I guess I'm a huge geek, because I would melt if someone said that to me.
Nope. Chickens lay because chickens lay eggs. (Object of verb). If chickens should become horizontal, they'd lie down just like the rest of us.
The chicken lays its head on my lap. The chicken lies down on my lap.
"its head" is the object of the verb. If there's an object of the verb (you're laying something), use lay. Otherwise, lie.
"You are the object of all my verbs."
I guess I'm a huge geek, because I would melt if someone said that to me.
And I must be a distrustful geek, because I would demand a list of the verbs before melting.