Archive for October 2019

Laying down a few rules about 'lie' vs. 'lay'

Laying down a few rules about 'lie' vs. 'lay'
One of the many sloppy usages that drive me slowly crazy is the confusion some people have between the words “lie” and “lay.” It may have started in a problem with accents or speed, but it’s an easy problem to beat. Here are some reminders of the rules: You are lying in bed or on... Read more »
By Margaret H. Laing,
October 30, 2019 at 4:20 pm
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Introducing Kipling Tuesdays: 'Recessional' and 'lest we forget'

Introducing Kipling Tuesdays: 'Recessional' and 'lest we forget'
Author’s note: The following post begins a new series on the poetry of Rudyard Kipling, who most U.S. readers will know only for “The Jungle Book.” After a few months of enjoying my father’s copy of Kipling’s complete verse in a “definitive edition,” I’m ready to share a weekly note of what I’ve learned. Rudyard... Read more »
By Margaret H. Laing,
October 29, 2019 at 5:17 pm
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Handwriting and penmanship: Words (and things) worth defending

Handwriting and penmanship: Words (and things) worth defending
I am doing something unusual by starting this post at the keyboard, not by holding my pen. I don’t love only the idea of writing, I love the act of it, and writing shouldn’t be the same as typing every time it’s done. People tell me I have beautiful handwriting, and I’m glad to hear... Read more »
By Margaret H. Laing,
October 22, 2019 at 3:04 pm
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Victory explained by Eric Liddell, the Olympic runner who refused to run on a Sunday

Victory explained by Eric Liddell, the Olympic runner who refused to run on a Sunday
 Eric Liddell (1902-1945) will be on my mind often this weekend, as my path to church is deflected, delayed, and otherwise obstructed by the Chicago marathon.  You might remember Liddell, a Scottish runner, as a character in “Chariots of Fire,” one of the Best Picture Oscar-winners of the 1980s. It was Liddell who, in the... Read more »
By Margaret H. Laing,
October 11, 2019 at 2:51 pm
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Don't talk TO me, talk WITH me!

Don't talk TO me, talk WITH me!
I caught myself today writing that I had talked to someone. But then I thought about the conversation, and I realized I had talked with him. I think it’s an expression worth defending. If I write or say that I talk to someone, the idea of the other person speaking at all is not there.... Read more »
By Margaret H. Laing,
October 3, 2019 at 4:04 pm
• 2 comments