Letter: You Made My Teeth Hurt
To the Editor:
It’s clear that the editors of the Valley News did not have Miss Noel for 11th-grade English, as I did. If they had, they would know the correct usage for the words “lay” and “lie.” Twice in the Sunday edition — once in a caption in the Sports section and again in the editorial — gasp! — they referred to someone “laying on the ground.” Makes your teeth hurt, doesn’t it? As Miss Noel often reminded us: Chickens lay; people lie.
I’ll spare everyone a discussion of transitive versus intransitive verbs. Just reach for that English usage guide on your desk, or Google it for that matter. I cannot solve the problem for you. I can only lay it at your feet. The solutions lies with you.
Stephen Campbell
Lyme
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