I used "lay easy on someone" today, to mean "go easy on someone" (when we learned the person is going through a hard time). I strongly feel people use this phrase (English is my second language), but I can't find anything about it on Google. Is it a real phrase?
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closed as off-topic by FumbleFingers, tchrist♦ Jan 26 at 17:06
This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:
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Not in American English (I can't speak for British usage). But in American English we do have a phrase, "lay off of someone" to mean going easy on the person. If spoken at the moment when the harsh treatment is happening, it's often shortened to just, "Lay off!" – JDM-GBG Jan 26 at 13:56
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We could also say something (a potentially disturbing act or idea, for example) sits easy on [someone who has no qualms about it]. But I think the preposition on there is extremely dated, if not archaic - today, we'd usually use with. – FumbleFingers Jan 26 at 14:10
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I used lay easy on someone" today, to mean "go easy on someone" (when we learned the person is going through a hard time).
Lay easy is slang and does not covey the sense you desire.
Better:
- Go easy on X. (when we learned the person is going through a hard time).
- Lay off X.
Ease up on X.
Green’s Dictionary of Slang provides the following:
lay-easy
sexually available or compliant
