“You sigh for a cipher, but I sigh for you;
Oh, sigh for no cipher, but oh, sigh for me;
Oh, let not my sigh for a cipher go,
But give sigh for sigh, for I sigh for you so!”
The above is more briefly expressed in the following manner:
“U O a O, but I O u,
Oh, O no O, but oh, O me;
Oh, let not my O a O go,
But give O O I O u so!”
445. Sometimes but is incorrectly substituted for that: as, “I have no doubt but he will be here to-night.” Sometimes for the conjunction if, as, “I shouldn’t wonder but that was the case.” And sometimes two conjunctions are used instead of one, as, “If that I have offended him,” “After that he had seen the parties,” &c. All this is very awkward and should be avoided.
446. “My hands are chopped:” say, chapped.
447. “This will serve as a preventative:” say, preventive.
448. “A nishe young man,” “What makesh you laugh?” “If he offendsh you, don’t speak to him,” “Ash you please,” “Not jush yet,” “We always passh your house in going to call on Missh Yatesh.” This is decided, unmitigated cockneyism, having its parallel in nothing except the broken English of the sons of Abraham, and to adopt it in conversation is certainly “not speaking like a Christian.”
449. Never say, “Cut it in half,” for this you cannot do unless you could annihilate one half. You may “cut it in two,” or “cut it in halves,” or “cut it through,” or “divide it,” but no human ability will enable you to cut it in half.
451. To lay and to lie.—To lay is an active or transitive verb, and must always have an object, expressed or understood. To lie (not meaning to tell a falsehood) is a neuter or intransitive, and therefore does not admit of an object. The only real difficulty arises from the fact, that the past tense of “lie,” when used without an auxiliary, is the same as the present of “lay.” But a little attention will obviate this. Nothing can be more erroneous than to say, “I shall go and lay down.” The question which naturally arises in the mind of the discriminating hearer is, “What are you going to lay down—money, carpets, plans, or what?” for, as a transitive verb is used, an object is wanted to complete the sense. The speaker means, that he himself is going to lie down. “My brother lays ill of a fever,” should be, “My brother lies,” &c.
| Verb Active. | Verb Neuter. | |||||
| To lay. Present Tense. | To lie. Present Tense. | |||||
| I lay Thou layest He lays We lay You lay They lay | } | money, carpets, plans, —anything. | I lie Thou liest He lies We lie You lie They lie | } | down, too long, on a sofa, —any where. | |
| Imperfect Tense. | Imperfect Tense. | |||||
| I laid Thou laidest He laid We laid You laid They laid | } | money, carpets, plans, —anything. | I lay Thou layest He lays We lay You lay They lay | } | down, too long, on a sofa, —any where. | |
| Present Participle, Laying. | Present Participle, Lying. | |||||
| Perfect Participle, Laid. | Perfect Participle, Lain. | |||||