69

Complected.

“The lady is light complected, has blue eyes, and auburn hair.”  Complected is a provincialism without sanction.  “The lady is of light complexion, has blue eyes,” etc.

Disremember

This word is obsolete.  Use forget, or “I do not remember.”

Lie, Lay

The verbs lie and lay are often confounded, even by intelligent persons.  Lie does not take an object.  We cannot lie a thing.  It is therefore intransitive.

Lay, which means to place in position, requires an object.  We lay a book on a table, or bricks on the wall.  It is therefore transitive.

The principal parts of the first verb are lie, lay, lain; and of the second, lay, laid, laid.  The word lay is found in both, and this is, in part, accountable for the confusion.  The most frequent errors result from using laid, the past tense form of the transitive verb, when the word lay, the past tense form of the intransitive verb, should be used.  The ear naturally expects the usual past tense ending of the d or t sound, and as that is absent in the past tense of lie, the past tense form of the other verb is substituted.  For the same reason the participle form laid is often incorrectly used for lain.
  ________________________________________________
_________________

70

“He told me to lie down, and I lay down,” not laid down.  “I told him to lay the book down, and he laid it down.”  “The ship lay at anchor.”  “They lay by during the storm.”  “The book is lying on the shelf.”  “He lay on the ground and took cold.”  “They lay in ambush.”  “Lie low or he will discover you.”  “The goods are still lying on his hands.”  “Time lay heavily on their hands.”  “We must lie over at the next station.”  “A motion was made that the resolution lie on the table.”  “Now I lie down to sleep.”  “Now I lay me down to sleep.”

The foregoing sentences illustrate the correct usage of these confusing verbs.

As, That

“Did your cousin go to town yesterday?” “Not as I know.”  Better, “Not that I know.”  Better still, “I do not know.”  “I do not know as I shall go.”  Use that for as.

Bad toothache

As it is a rare thing to have a good toothache, we scarcely need the adjective bad to distinguish between the two kinds of toothache.  Say severe.

Beautifully, Beautiful

After verbs of seeing, feeling, tasting, and smelling, the adverb is often incorrectly used for the adjective.
  ________________________________________________
_________________

71

“The colonel looked handsomely in his military dress,” “I feel splendidly to-day,” “This peach tastes badly,” “The rose smells sweetly,” are incorrect.  Use handsome for handsomely, very well or in good spirits for splendidly, tastes bad or has a disagreeable taste for badly, and sweet for sweetly.

Beg, Beg leave

“I beg to announce the sale of a collection of rare and costly rugs.”  “I beg to acknowledge your kindness in sending me this handsome present.”  In each case say “I beg leave to,” etc.