Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: tie.

tie. “Tie” makes, in the present participle, “tying.” *”Tieing,” though common, is incorrect — e.g.: o “Cam Neely scored the tieing [read ‘tying’] and winning goals as Boston improved to 8-0-2 in its last 10 games against the Islanders.” Doug Chapman, “Islanders Marooned by Bruins, Who Can’t Be Beaten,” Providence J.-Bull., 19 Mar. 1995, at C9. o “As Dillehay said, tieing [read ‘tying’] overhand knots is ‘the kind of thing nature cannot do.'” David L. Chandler, “The First Humans Arrived Earlier than We Thought — But How Much Earlier?” Boston Globe, 17 Mar. 1997, at C1. Language-Change Index — *”tieing” for “tying”: Stage 1. *Invariably inferior form.
Quotation of the Day: “New word-forms and patterns in language are created by a simple but important process called analogy or analogical creation. You will understand analogy when you know why a child says ‘goed’ for ‘went’ or ‘deers’ for ‘deer,’ or why you sometimes make a slip of the tongue with a form like ‘teached.’ You will hear examples of analogy nearly every day if you listen attentively.” Wallace L. Anderson & Norman C. Stageberg, Introductory Readings on Language 101 (Wallace L. Anderson & Norman C. Stageberg eds., 3d ed. 1970).
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