Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 August 1895 — Common Errors in Speech. [ARTICLE]

Common Errors in Speech.

The verb to get is one of our much misused words; It means to acquire, win, obtain; and, primarily, It signifies the putting forth of effort to attain something. Consequently it is not only superfluous, but incorrect, to speak of a man as “getting drowned” or “getting sick;” and you may, unfortunately, “have a cold,” but it Is Impossible that you “have got a cold.” At this moment no exceptions occur to the writer to the rule that got should never be used in connection with have, which alone sufficiently expresses possession. Say “I have the picture,” not “I have got the picture;” “The dog has a broken leg.” not “The dog has got a broken leg.” The Irregular verbs lay and lie are frequently confounded. Lay Is an active or transitive verb, and lie is passive or intransitive. We lay things down or mve laid them down; but we and things lie at rest. You He down, have lain down, will He down, or are lying down; she lay down yesterday and i» going to He down this afternoon. A frequent error Is to confound the past tenses of these verbs. One should say, “Mary laid the book on the table, and lay down herself;’’ but the book lies on the table. —Demoreat Magazine.