Lose vs Loose

[Slammr (imported)]

I don't know why it irks me so much to see this common mistake, but it does. It's not that difficult to get it right. It especially irks me when I write it correctly and someone writes me back using it incorrectly, like I was the one making the mistake. When someone does that, I figure they weren't paying attention to my post or they were trying to show me up by using the other version, thinking I had it wrong.

Lose vs Loose

A lot of people are mixing up lose and loose. In particular, a lot of people are writing loose when they really mean lose. Here are the definitions of the two words from my Penguin dictionary:

loose [lOOs] adj not fastened or pre-packed; not tied up or confined; able to move freely; not tight, not firmly fixed; not close-fitting; careless, inaccurate, vague; dissolute, immoral; not closely woven; flabby; (of bowels) inclined to diarrhoea; l. box stable or van in which an animal can move about; at a l. end uncertain what to do next; unoccupied ~ loose adv in a loose way; play fast and l. behave rashly or unscupulously ~ loose n release; on the l. free from restraint; on a spree; ~ loose v/t untie, undo; release from confinement or constraint, set free; detatch; fire (gun); shoot (arrow); (eccles) absolve.

lose (p/t and p/part lost) [lOOz] v/t and i no longer have; be deprived of by accident or misfortune; mislay, fail to find; fail to get or win; be too late for; be bereaved of; waste; be defeated or beaten; suffer loss, become worse off; fail to hear, see or understand; cause or allow to perish; (of clock or watch) go too slowly; (refl) miss the right path; become absorbed in; l. one's head become flustered, panic; l. one's temper grow angry; l. one's way fail to find the right path; l. out (US) be defeated after a struggle.

Examples:

This knot is too loose.

Please do not lose my book.

I had better not lose that file.

One way to remember the difference between the two words is to think that "lose has lost an 'o'".

[moi621 (imported)]

I will never use a double "o" again except to ref. someone and how they express "the truth".

[colin (imported)]

It is not just lose/loose, there are many words which are frequently mis-spelled and from the fact that they are used repeatedly by the same person it is obvious that they do not know the difference. Waived/waved and bear/bare are others which are prevalent. You see a statement such as "Please bare with me" and it is obvious that the person has no idea that they are inviting others to get naked with them. There are some who have dyslexia, but in the main I think that it is simply laziness.

I think that a lot (not alot) of blame lies with the education system where spelling and grammar seem to be of no conseqence.The proof, in my view, is the utter inability of some people to use an apostrophe correctly. Large numbers seem to think that it must be used when there is a plural, ie: "two book's". Texting may also bear some responsibility in this.

It may be argued that it does not matter, but that is false. Whilst it may not be too important in general use there are always situations in which precise language is extremely important. There are times when I begin to despair. Perhaps the solution is to ban English which is so sorely abused and switch to German or French, but I fear that the same thing will happen there.

[Cainanite (imported)]

Don't get me started on the issue of there, their, and they're. My own infamous screw-up of Reign vs. Rein (and probably Rain) The difficulty people have with the difference between too, to, and the number two.

There is one I've had recent difficulty facing in my own writing, breath and breathe.

The correct usage is, "I took a breath," and "I started to breathe." You can't say, "You just need to breath." or "Calm down and take a breathe."

Also, there is the problem people have with words and names that end with an "s". If you are talking about Davis and his new car, you don't want to write it, "Davis's new car." Correct usage is, "Davis' new car."

Another big problem people have is where to put commas. This is one, that for me, has proven difficult.

If I write, "I'm inviting the prostitutes, Dave and Jerry." There are only two people invited, Dave and Jerry, both of whom are prostitutes.

If I write, "I'm inviting the prostitutes, Dave, and Jerry." Then Dave and Jerry are in for a good time with some prostitutes. See the difference? Sometimes I don't until it is too late.

English is a bloody difficult language. I've read high profile published novels, written by experienced wordsmiths, who sometimes get these things wrong. I've probably got half a dozen things wrong with just this post.

My latest and greatest complaint is reading sentences where more than one person is talking. When different people are speaking it should take place in separate sentences, separated by a paragraph break.

"Go to the store," my mother said, and I replied, "I don't want to go."

It should read;

"Go to the store," my mother said.

I replied, "I don't want to go."

As I edit stories I run into so many where the writer has written in 'stream-of-consciousness' style. Some sentences have three or four characters speaking. There is no break to the sentence, and no new paragraphs to separate ideas.

When I was in school, I actually had a teacher tell me paragraph breaks should happen every four to five sentences. This was an English teacher. Even an english teacher didn't know what constituted a paragraph. The real answer is, every paragraph should contain just one idea. It is a complicated notion, but if you read good literature, you'll see it is true.

Try thinking of it this way. If, in a story, you are describing what it feels like being strapped to a table, then all the feelings sensations and observations about being strapped to the table can be in that paragraph. If someone else walks in and finds your character strapped to the table, and you want to describe the new person, it should be a new paragraph.

Fortunately, with a little bit of thought, I can usually suss out what the author intended. Sometimes, not so much. Sometimes I just have to make an assumption, and hope for the best.

It is when I'm reading a post from someone here on the forums, that I try to give the most latitude. Not everyone has the same level of education, or mastery of language. There is only so much the built in spell-checker can catch. I still want to read what they have to contribute. I know if it weren't for the spell-checker I'd still be spelling until with two L's.

Now I sit back and wait for people to point out all the errors I made in this post. I'm sure there are a few. I might half even put won their on porpoise.

[The Lurker (imported)]

I believe that these mistakes occur often here on the boards. I think that some of our members might be reticent to post if they feel embarrassed by being called-out for weak spelling and grammar skills. So for the most part I think their opinions are far more important than their english usage.

Honestly, I would love to see this thread closed or removed.

[Cainanite (imported)]

I believe that these mistakes occur often here on the boards. I think that some of our members might be reticent to post if they feel embarrassed by being called-out for weak spelling and grammar skills. So for the most part I think their opinions are far more important than their english usage.

Honestly, I would love to see this thread closed or removed.

I agree we don't want to make anyone uncomfortable, or attack them for improper language use. WHAT they have to say is far more important than HOW they say it.

That being said, I wouldn't close this thread. It's a good place to rant, and have a bit of a laugh at mistakes we all make. It's good to blow off steam where it belongs. You won't find me criticizing anyone on grammar, spelling or punctuation in a serious thread. Nor would most regulars who post here. This is the place on the forums for a laugh.

Also. Maybe someone will read this thread and recognize a mistake they commonly make themselves, and learn something. Who couldn't benefit from learning something new?

[A-1 (imported)]

Well, I try to lessen those sorts of mistakes by sentence structure...

Or,

When I adjust my sentence structure I make less of that sort of mistake.

Or,

If you want to make less of those mistakes change your sentence structure.

Or,

Well, you get the picture. Usually, people write like they talk. Or, people write the way that they talk.

Getting away from all of that, I feel English to be a rather free language IF you don't let the rules get to you. English IS the language of petty larceny because if there is not a word to describe what you want to express in INGLESH, you STEAL it from some other language.

Just like George W. Bush said when he said that no other language but English had a word for Entrepreneur.

Oh, and one more thing. If it has a red squiggly line under it it IS misspelled. IF you put your cursor OVER the word and RIGHT CLICK, a box appears with options for the correct spelling or usage in a box above and to the right.

Please use it but DO NOT be obsessed with using it. I'd rather hear what you have to say and I PROMISE NOT TO MAKE FUN OF YOU FOR WRITING MISTAKES. IF I try to correct your language, it is NOT because I AM superior to you.

It is because I want to help you.

By the way, the spell check feature will not tag wrong usage IF the spelling is correct. Some of the spell checkers have a grammar checker also, but even then they are not perfect, either.

[AtomicMush (imported)]

You have a great point, and it irks me, too, to see our language skills flowing into the toilet. But, in part, I blame spell-checkers. Very few, especially those on the so-called smart phones, auto-change words, and there is no undo after the message sends itself.

Next issue, over-hyphenation.

g

[Riverwind (imported)]

And here is the last word,

this is not a lit guild, or a writing club, get over it.

Many of us including me are dyslexic, and being so English has always been hard for us, we spell phonetically always, example, (ov), this simple two letter word, in my mind its spelled correctly, (of) is speled rong.

The last day of school in my senior year my English teacher wrote a story on the board, totally phonetically, it was the first time in my life that I could speed read English and I was the only one in class who could. If English was written as it sounds, most of you would be totally lost, but people like me would understand ever word. English is a second language for us.

I hope I made my point.

River

[tugon (imported)]

And here is the last word,

this is not a lit guild, or a writing club, get over it.

Many of us including me are dyslexic, and being so English has always been hard for us, we spell phonetically always, example, (ov), this simple two letter word, in my mind its spelled correctly, (of) is speled rong.

The last day of school in my senior year my English teacher wrote a story on the board, totally phonetically, it was the first time in my life that I could speed read English and I was the only one in class who could. If English was written as it sounds, most of you would be totally lost, but people like me would understand ever word. English is a second language for us.

I hope I made my point.

River

Amen, amen a good post, thought or shared feeling is more important than spelling and grammar.