Lose the Loose
I’m not going to complain about it, but has anyone noticed the apparently rampant use of the word loose in place of lose? I been noticing it for months on blogs, forums and websites many of which seem to lack the usual plague of spelling and grammatical errors. Have people forgotten that there are two words that have a similar spelling, or is some sort of fad like l33t and nub? I’m just wondering what’s going on and if anyone else has noticed.
Just in case you were wondering:
Main Entry: loose
Pronunciation: ‘lüs
Function: adjective
Inflected Forms: loos·er; loos·est
1 a : not rigidly fastened or securely attached b (1) : having worked partly free from attachments <a loose tooth> (2) : having relative freedom of movement c : produced freely and accompanied by raising of mucus <a loose cough>
2 : not dense, close, or compact in structure or arrangement <loose connective tissue>
3 : lacking in restraint or power of restraint <loose bowels>
4 : not tightly drawn or stretched —loose·ly adverb —loose·ness noun
Main Entry: lose
Pronunciation: ‘lüz
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form: lost /’lost/; los·ing
1 : to suffer deprivation of : part with especially in an unforeseen or accidental manner <lose a leg in an auto crash>
2 a : to suffer deprivation through the death or removal of or final separation from (a person) <lost a son in the war> b : to fail to keep (a patient) from dying <have lost many fewer pneumonia cases since penicillin came into use>
Definitions quoted from Dictionary.com: Source: Merriam-Webster Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Yes… I’ve noticed that. Yes… it drives me crazy. Along with “later”=”latter”, “There-their-they’re” misusage, and “to”=”too”. I’m not dissin’ on people who do this, as I have some very close friends that are notorious for that (”see you latter”), I’m just letting it be known that it makes it hard for me to read properly (ie when I read “latter”, my mind pronounces the word that is spelled, which is pronounced more like “ladder”. So my mind says “See you latter” and it makes no sense).
That’s my two cents worth.
Comment by Stevish — 2005.3.3 Thursday @ 12.59 pm