The Wednesday Word Wise Roundup

Mary Schmich, one of the Chicago Tribune’s better writers (and who once wrote a commencement speech that somehow got attributed to Kurt Vonnegut who, in turn, told The New York Times, "What she wrote was funny and wise and charming, so I would have been proud had the words been mine”) had a terrific piece in the paper today about the losing crusade (which she blames on yoga instructors) to distinguish between "lay" and "lie." Schmich noted that the confusion is so pervasive that she even quoted the online American Heritage Book of English Usage: "What if Bob Dylan, in a fit of zeal for correctness, had written 'Lie, Lady, Lie/Lie across my big brass bed?' Somehow it's hard to imagine the lady sticking around."

Note: In the original of this post I incorrectly attributed the line about Bob Dylan to Schmich. As she pointed out to me today (Feb. 2, 2008), she found it in the online American Heritage Book of English Usage and quoted it. My bad and lesson learned - I need to read more carefully.