today's grammar post
In response to the previous post, my mother asked:Does "Now I lay me down to sleep" make you cringe?I actually use this one as a sort of trick question when teaching grammar. "Now I lay me" is weirdly archaic, but the verb isn't wrong, because in this case, "me" is being used as the object. For example, both of these are correct:
Now I lie down.
Now I lay myself down.
(But "Now I lay down" is just wrong. If you "lay," you need to lay something).
That being said, "Now I lay me" should actually be "Now I lay MYSELF."
Which sounds awfully dirty for a children's prayer.
posted by JenIsFamous at 3/21/2007 10:54:00 AM
4 Comments:
Good point. I am often annoyed by people using 'yourself' and 'myself' when the subject and object don't agree.
You can hit yourself. I can hit myself. But I can't hit yourself and you can't hit myself because you and I are not the same entity.
For example, if I say "How are you?" it's fine to say "Good, how about you?" But not "I'm fine, how about yourself?" This is okay only if you and I are the same person. But if we were, I wouldn't have to ask.
This concludes my grammar gripe of the day.
Perhaps the prayer should read something more like:
Now I've lain thee. Down to sleep,
your soul I pray the Lord to keep.
Yet I should hie before thou wake,
wouldst thou know me lout? Or rake?
What if you are laying goose feathers? Example: "I lay down into my pillow." How's that for confusing?
methinks dats right
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