lay, lie
The action word is lay. It takes a direct object. Laid is the form for its past tense and its past participle. Its present participle is laying. Lie indicates a state of reclining along a horizontal plane. It does not take a direct object. Its past tense is lay. Its past participle is lain. Its present participle is lying.
When lie means to make an untrue statement, the verb forms are lie, lied, lying.
- Present tense
I will lay the book on the table. He lies on the beach all day. - Past tense
I laid the book on the table. He lay on the beach all day. - Present participle
I am laying the book on the table. He is lying on the beach.
lectures, speeches
Capitalize the principal words, including prepositions and conjunctions of four or more letters. Capitalize an article —the, a, an—or words of fewer than four letters if it is the first or last word in a title. Use in quotation marks for their formal titles: The Swope Lecture titled “Women in Islam” was held in Schneebeck Concert Hall.
lesbian
See gay. Also, see LGBT.
-less
No hyphen before this suffix: childless, waterless.
less
See fewer, less.
LGBT
An accepted acronym for referring to a group of people who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. Do not use "transgender" as a verb.
lie
See lay, lie.
-like
Do not precede by hyphen unless the letter "l" would be tripled: bill-like, businesslike, lifelike, shell-like
like-
Follow with a hyphen when used as a prefix meaning similar to: like-minded, like-natured. No hyphen in words that have meanings of their own: likelihood, likeness, likewise
like, as
Use "like" as a preposition to compare nouns and pronouns. It requires an object: Jim blocks like a pro. The conjunction as is the correct word to introduce clauses: Jim blocks the linebacker as he should.
literally, figuratively
See figuratively, literally.
Logger, logger
Capitalize in all references to Puget Sound athletics: Puget Sound Loggers; Logger athletics; Once a Logger, always a Logger. Lowercase references to the general logging profession.
LoggerCard
The name of Puget Sound's official ID card.
login (n.), log in (v.), logon (n.), log on (v.), log off (v.)
Also, see computer terminology.
long distance, long-distance
Always hyphen in reference to telephone calls: She called long-distance. In other uses, hyphenate only when used as a compound modifier: She made a long-distance trip.
long term, long-term
Hyphenate when used as a compound modifier: We will win in the long term. He has a long-term assignment.
long time, longtime
They have known each other a long time. They are longtime partners.