The term “lay out” was so ubiquitous as to be unequivocal. It didn’t mean to set out clothes for the following day. It didn’t mean to explain a plan of action.

Unlike the verb form, it’s one word, similar to how the verbs “check up” and “make up” have as their noun forms “checkup” and “makeup.” The meaning of “layout” is a little ...

But unlike verbs and adjectives, a nominalization can sometimes make a sentence terrible. Or should I say, it can imbue a sentence with terribleness. There are several reasons.