Bad language

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BigSilverEstate

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5 minute argument in the car with our nearly 3-year old mini pedant about whether it is correct to say 'lay down' instead of 'lie down'. I think I carried the day by explaining that she would worth the frosty looks I now expect from the nursery nurses after they have been informed Daddy says they are wrong and have made a mistake.

As she gets older she will no doubt pick up all sorts of nonsense from both peers and even from authority figures such as teachers. Is it worth trying to fight the tide or should I just leave her to grow out of it?
 
Does she say Thursday or fursday, thing or fing?
 
1) I really don't think that 'lay down'/'lie down' is important enough for an argument with a three year old. Swearing yes, minor grammar issues, no.

2) I really don't understand what you're attempting to say with your second sentence.
 
Never give up trying to teach your children what you think is correct, because if you do, it will only grate as they grow older.
 
I would say please lie down. I will lie down now. I was layed out with one punch. Please lay me down to rest. Please lay ????? down. I think I will lay down is wrong. But then I say er for er over there, er on er head, er on a g string, and fresh er.
 
This is Pete said:
1) I really don't think that 'lay down'/'lie down' is important enough for an argument with a three year old. Swearing yes, minor grammar issues, no.

2) I really don't understand what you're attempting to say with your second sentence.

You reach a point in life where knowing the difference between (for example) lie down / lay down becomes an important factor in others' evaluation of you. Yet growing up there are many pressures to get these things wrong, even including mistakes by teachers, etc.

Is it worthwhile to try to resist these pressures, even undermine a teacher, or should we just relax and trust that it will come round in the end.

Ps not a real argument... She was getting a bit of a thrill from telling dad he was wrong, and I was egging her on as I liked her spirit!
 
I would say please lie down. I will lie down now. I was layed out with one punch. Please lay me down to rest. Please lay ????? down. I think I will lay down is wrong.

Pretty much spot on, but it's "laid" rather than "layed".

Lie/lay is the source of a great deal of confusion, not least because in one sense "lay" is the past tense of "lie", while in another "laid" is that past tense of "lay" - and then there's the past participle 'lain' - so it's heartening to hear of a three-year-old trying to get it right.
 
As language is a communication tool, in certain contexts it could be beneficial to use local vernacular/patois/dialect/slang...but I think it's always important to understand the allegedly "standard/correct" version even if only for use in formal circumstances. You're realistic about all the other influences she'll absorb, but don't let that discourage you from passing on your knowledge or opinions, even when it's personal preference or style- she might not get that anywhere else, and, as a defining characteristic of a person, language has a potential "inherited" aspect.
...I wish that didn't all sound like an attempted exam answer, couldn't think of a less pompous way to make those points!
 
English like wot it is spoke :D I suspect that you may be more anxious about getting laid a bit later on rather than grammatical correctness.
 
artyman said:
English like wot it is spoke :D I suspect that you may be more anxious about getting laid a bit later on rather than grammatical correctness.

I assume you mean about my daughter getting laid..? For myself it is more hope than anxiety!
 
Incidentally was it the five minute argument or the full half hour :D
 
Lol she is still only 2 so I got off lightly. With two daughters I am under no illusions about what's in store in a few years' time though...
 
Incidentally was it the five minute argument or the full half hour :D


I've already told you once.................


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