12
Mrs. Bluezette's Grammar Guide
set/sit
What offends Mrs. B's sensitivities, in spite of her Southern roots, is
hearing "set" and "sit" interchanged.
"Set" is a verb meaning "to place" or "to put" something somewhere.
v
Please SET the water on the table in the studio.
"Sit" is a verb meaning "to be seated."
v
I'm going to SIT for a while and breathe deeply before the
show.
"Set" has a few other meanings, but you're not likely to confuse
them with "sit."
v
We SET out for the live shot with every intention of succeeding.
v
The sun SET before we could get the mast up.
"I'm gonna SET awhile" is something only a hen could say or Jell-O
or plaster if any of them were able to talk.
Mrs. B sees it as her mission in life to SIT here and SET you straight
when it comes to grammar.
She plans to heed the warning of Charles Dickens (novelist, 1812-
1870) and prod that brain of yours so it doesn't get too comfortable:
"Minds, like bodies, will often fall into a pimpled, ill-
conditioned state from mere excess of comfort."
