'Lie low' vs 'lay low'

[Tom]

Hi

I just heard in a movie:

1- He wouldn't lay low.

Shouldn't it be lie low?

Thanks

Tom

[Yankee]

Hi Tom

Look at definitions 50 and 51 here.

I think that will answer your question. :D

Amy
_________________
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln

[Odyssoma]

Egads. I have not seen or heard that usage of "lay low" (example 50) for many years. It is almost biblical in its provenance. (Note, however, that "lay" still requires an object.)

[Bazza]

YES.

It is in the Active Voice, and 'he' is the 'doer' of the action.
'he' should keep out of sight; bide his time. - lie low.

Illness could lay him low.

[Dozy]

The use of "lay" where "lie" is actually required is extremely common. Among many English-speakers it is the norm. According to M-W dictionary:

"lay has been used intransitively in the sense of “lie” since the 14th century. The practice was unremarked until around 1770; attempts to correct it have been a fixture of schoolbooks ever since. Generations of teachers and critics have succeeded in taming most literary and learned writing, but intransitive lay persists in familiar speech and is a bit more common in general prose than one might suspect. Much of the problem lies in the confusing similarity of the principal parts of the two words. Another influence may be a folk belief that lie is for people and lay is for things. Some commentators are ready to abandon the distinction, suggesting that lay is on the rise socially. But if it does rise to respectability, it is sure to do so slowly: many people have invested effort in learning to keep lie and lay distinct. Remember that even though many people do use lay for lie, others will judge you unfavorably if you do."

[SteveThomas]

[Bazza]

Dozy:
There are more English speakers in America than Britain.
How many millions say:
"I seen him..."
"He rung me and come over to hang out."
"I had saw him..."

Concession to, what seems like, majority opinion, can sometimes be concession to mob rule.
Wanna be one of the "mob"?, 'cos I ain't gunna.

[Dozy]