Lie, Lay or Lie

Lie, Lay or Lie
June 6, 2014
By: Gina Yoryet Roman


My mind was ‘divagating’ for a couple of days and I was left in awe because I couldn’t believe that my written master piece that came ‘close to perfection’ (according to me) was completely trashed last week. My eyes opened a lot wider than normal, my jaw dropped, I felt very insecure and vulnerable and questioned my skills when I saw all the red parts through the entire document.

This comment was a very strong blow right on my face -
“There are a few places where it's unclear what you'd like to convey and I think this is due to language differences.”

True, English is NOT my mother tongue but I’ve been exposed to it from a very early age on. Since then, I’ve impulsed myself to improve all around: reading, writing, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and listening and I feel very confident about it. I understand and accept positive feedback but I’d never ran into any ‘language differences’ as my mind is fully trained to think and work at both Spanish and English with the same rapidness and efficiency.

“So - what is a 'divagate'? Also, am unfamiliar with the word 'parallelism'; how does that differ from 'parallel'?”

GRY: "The above words in quotation marks, actually do exist and I can back that up because I use real words and always push myself to expand my vocabulary to enrich my second language further."

After this small disagreement and a few other scenarios this month, I’ve been overly sensitive which led me to feel offended and hurt much quicker than normal, as a result of that I fired right back,  argumented and backed up my reasoning not because I like to always be right but because I like to prove my point when I've done my homework.

One of those points is the similarity between the following three verbs which the majority of people are not even acquainted with, and the ones that are, always get them mixed up, including me.

One of my comments on my writing was, “All the answers lie in your hands”
Incorrect,
It was changed to, “All the answers ‘lay’ in your hands.”
I was right. 


1. To Lie  (to lie down/recline/)
Lie lies lying lay lain

2. To Lay (to set/put/place)
  Lay lays laying laid laid

3.  To Lie (to be dishonest)
   Lie lies lying lied lied

Ralph Waldo Emerson used the right word in his quote many years ago.

"What Lies Behind Us and What Lies Before Us are Tiny Matters Compared to What Lies Within Us"

So according to my investigation,
People lie when they are dishonest,
I am going to lay my book on the desk, and
All the answers are indeed lying in my hands.

Plus
Divagate, parallelism do exist

In addition to that, I don’t have any language barriers, that’s why I counterargumented my point. I always do that when I know I am right and of course when I can back it up.

Now I am at ease and peace with myself and my skills are no longer being questioned...