>teeth on edge over the use of the word "lay" for "lie down"

That's just USn linguistic hegemony rearing its ugly head again, Mrs F. The usage which troubles you so is completely standard on the civilised side of the Atlantic. To quote from the late and much lamented Arsenal fan, Douglas Adams:

Not so, Max! You quote Marvin as saying "Now I lay me down to sleep"

You can lay yourself down (you can lay anything down), but you must LIE down. "lay" requires an object. (I am fully prepared for the spate of "lay" and "object" and "sex object" references no doubt flying my way.....)

Jackie, I'm so glad I'm not alone in the teeth-gritting over "I'm going to lay down"! Although I did read a worse one in a magazine that purportedly had an editor - "I lied down in the back of the van for a sleep."