Re Before the Word Became Flesh, Letters, September
Thank you indeed for giving my letter lead-in prominence in September. The letters continue to be a delight for me. Perhaps this is because I find that what prompts my very occasional bits is usually a reaction to your readers’ opinions, which often reflect an interesting polarity on core issues.
However, could I carp mildly at your changing my “lying” to “laying” at the opening of the second paragraph of my letter. My complaint is not about editing – that is of course your privilege – but rather that the change was wrong. My use of “lying” reflected the nature of the subject matter as being totally supine, docile, and without intent or energy – surely the very nature of intransitiveness. In my defence
I offer the support of the Oxford Language Toolkit, soft cover, page 185; The Globe and Mail Style Book, page 183; and, not least The Canadian Secretary’s Handbook, page 53. I also consulted Eats, Shoots and Leaves, but the author seems preoccupied with punctuation.
