Echoes in Eternity

I heard this grammatical error a handful of times this past week (amazing what one picks up if you're listening for it), so perhaps it needs addressing: borrow versus lend/loan*. The common mistake is to ask someone to borrow you their movie/lawn mower/random item. The person getting the object does the borrowing, the one giving the object is lending or loaning it to the other person. To lend means to give to someone. To borrow is to receive something from someone. You lend someone your newspaper, you borrow their toothbrush (actually, I hope you don't borrow their toothbrush). Get it straight, people!


*Lend or loan are interchangeable, except for figurative expressions (like "lend me your ears").