Some people live in a world where their days are filled with drama and heightened emotions. Or you would think so to listen to them.
People in this world don't simply get alerts or notifications. They get major wake-up calls. Maybe they have hearing problems.
One action doesn't merely follow another. It comes on the heels of other things, like a tiny yapping dog.
No one is ever calm. Passions run high. Outrage is sparked. Then, sparks fly. Other times, outrage is spurred. Pressures mount.
Quantities are rarely reduced. They are slashed or gutted. Amounts do not increase. They soar. They hike. They balloon.
People who disagree with you are everywhere. They are vocal critics. Not a silent one is among them. They fire salvos. They mount full-scale assaults. They relentlessly assail. All this happens after you trigger something. What were you thinking?
To propose an idea, you need to tout it. Who can resist a good tout? Some people unleash a flood of changes. They don't believe in going slowly. When things go too slowly, however, someone is sent in to streamline things. Or, they scramble to find answers. At times, they race against the clock.
Issues run amok in this world. They are hot-button issues, divisive issues. People are sharply divided.
People don't cope or deal with problems. They grapple, even though no wrestling mats are anywhere to be seen.
People don't simply wait. They play a waiting game. Why? Because the situation is a nail-biter.
If things still aren't working, people redouble their efforts. If you redouble, do you actually quadruple?
People don't prove things. They provide a strong body of evidence. Who would want a weak body of evidence?
Certain places aren't just difficult. They are hotbeds, and people have bad blood between them. Rumors swirl. Rumors never waft or move wispily. Scenarios are always frightening. Problems plague the place. People clash.
People don't discuss things. They hash out things. And when an agreement isn't immediate, we learn that talks have stalled. Once they are long-stalled, you might as well give up.
Often the discussions are marathon talks.
Things don't cease. They reach a predefined endpoint.
News isn't announced. It's heralded, but not with one of those horns that angels blow. Sometimes, we hear a hue and cry.
Tasks are daunting. After a while, they get a booster shot.
Problems are major blows. Do minor blows exist?
"A shortage of money" is too simple to say. Funding gaps and spending gaps sound more horrifying.
Two things that aren't the same are in stark contrast.
This world is a difficult place to reside. Try to dwell somewhere more restful.
LAY VERSUS LIE
I try to review more common mistakes regularly. Recently, three people asked me to explain the difference between lay and lie. So here goes.
"Lay" shows action, the acting of placing something someplace.
I will lay the pie on the counter. Don't eat it, please.
"Lie" just means to recline.
After binge-watching Orange Is the New Black, I had to lie down.
"Lay" is often put in the wrong place.
Wrong: She lays on the beach until the sunscreen runs out.
Right: She lies on the beach until the sunscreen runs out.
A child's prayer might add some confusion. It starts out, "Now I lay me down to sleep."
Unless a kid has extra, independent appendages, placing oneself down to sleep is incredibly difficult. But poetic license allows for deviation.
Now, just to make things even more difficult, I have to add that the past tense of lie is "lay."
Right: He lay in wait for the Pop-Tarts to pop out of the toaster.
Sources: Grammar Girl, The Associated Press Stylebook, Woe Is I by Patricia T. O'Conner, Virginia newspapers, Merriam-Webster
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Style on 04/22/2019