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[Beverly Flanigan]

I've read this too, but never heard it.  It's a typical hypercorrection,
not unusual in the NY Times, which often uses "whom" where subjective "who"
is required.

At 01:35 PM 1/31/2005, you wrote:
> >NYT Magazine Jjanuary 30, 2005  p.76, col.2
> >
> >"... bamboo poles _lain_ over ... crud ..."
> >
> >instead of
> >
> >"... bamboo poles _laid_ over ... crud ..."
>~~~~~~~~~~
>Total confusion over the inflexions of /to lie/ and /to lay/ is the order
>of the day.
>The contemporary writer, for instance, who will boldly use "laid" for the
>preterit of /lay/ is rarer than those who feebly use "lay."
>The boo-boo with "lain" above is a rarity in itself, since even the
>existence of /lain/ is nearly unknown, nowadays, nevermind attaching it to
>the right verb.
>Factors such as being rudely corrected by persons like me; the sexual
>connotations of /laid/; embedded tropes like "Now I lay me....."; and the
>"lay of the land", probably add to the confusion.  I very much doubt that
>the old paradigms will ever become firmly reestablished.  I wish I didn't
>find it so irritating. Perhaps I should, like the White Queen, practice
>believing impossible  things before breakfast each day. (It might help in
>swallowing the world news, too.)
>A. Murie
>
>~@:>   ~@:>   ~@:>   ~@:>