Loose vs. Lose
Okay, I need to point this out ’cause its been bothering me for awhile. There are 2 words in the English language: loose and lose.
(from dictionary.com)
loose:
- Not fastened, restrained, or contained: loose bricks.
- Not taut, fixed, or rigid: a loose anchor line; a loose chair leg.
- Free from confinement or imprisonment; unfettered: criminals loose in the neighborhood; dogs that are loose on the streets.
- Not tight-fitting or tightly fitted: loose shoes.
- Not bound, bundled, stapled, or gathered together: loose papers.
- Not compact or dense in arrangement or structure: loose gravel.
- Lacking a sense of restraint or responsibility; idle: loose talk.
- Not formal; relaxed: a loose atmosphere at the club.
- Lacking conventional moral restraint in sexual behavior.
- Not literal or exact: a loose translation.
- Characterized by a free movement of fluids in the body: a loose cough; loose bowels.
lose:
- To be unsuccessful in retaining possession of; mislay: He’s always losing his car keys.
-
- To be deprived of (something one has had): lost her art collection in the fire; lost her job.
- To be left alone or desolate because of the death of: lost his wife.
- To be unable to keep alive: a doctor who has lost very few patients.
- To be unable to keep control or allegiance of: lost his temper at the meeting; is losing supporters by changing his mind.
- To fail to win; fail in: lost the game; lost the court case.
- To fail to use or take advantage of: Don’t lose a chance to improve your position.
- To fail to hear, see, or understand: We lost the plane in the fog. I lost her when she started speaking about thermodynamics.
-
- To let (oneself) become unable to find the way.
- To remove (oneself), as from everyday reality into a fantasy world.
- To rid oneself of: lost five pounds.
Lets all try to use these words in the appropriate context 
sahilmalik said,
Wrote on December 10, 2005 @ 10:18 am
I’m gonna loose my mind
Anonymous said,
Wrote on December 10, 2005 @ 11:40 am
You spent that much space on a typo grievance? Boy, you are asking for it.
Better dot those i’s and cross those t’s…
breichelt said,
Wrote on December 10, 2005 @ 12:18 pm
I dont think its a type really, people just think that the word ‘lose’ is spelled with 2 o’s. Its actually pretty common, I see it all the time, think of it a public service announcement
Anonymous said,
Wrote on December 10, 2005 @ 4:25 pm
What bothers me is people who don’t know the difference between its and it’s and lets and let’s. This is more annoying than people who don’t know the difference between lose and loose.
At least you got o’s right, I think. Just another PSA.
breichelt said,
Wrote on December 10, 2005 @ 10:18 pm
Oh God, I screwed up the “its”, my bad…………
Anonymous said,
Wrote on December 11, 2005 @ 8:58 pm
oooh, since we’re talking about wrong usages of words and stuff one of the ones that bugs me the most is when someone says “hey could you borrow me that dvd?” The correct word to use in this situation is lend. To use the word borrow, you could say “May I borrow this dvd from you?”
If you want to test out your skills on the borrow vs. lend dilemna try this multiple choice test
Anonymous said,
Wrote on December 11, 2005 @ 9:02 pm
I guess I didn’t have to try that hard
http://www.english-zone.com/verbs/lend1.html
breichelt said,
Wrote on December 12, 2005 @ 12:08 am
yep, links are auto-linked
I hate that one too (borrow vs. lend). Another one that I thought of was when people say “I could care less” when they really mean “I couldN’T care less”
Anonymous said,
Wrote on December 12, 2005 @ 6:54 am
Yep, I love when people call others “loosers”.
Anonymous said,
Wrote on December 12, 2005 @ 9:39 am
Seems you and Raymond Chen are trying to change the world into a grammatical utopia one blog at a time. Why not stop trying to be such an arogant, anal ^!@#$# and find a hobby?
Anonymous said,
Wrote on December 12, 2005 @ 1:19 pm
Wow Michael, someone push a button? Did you “loose” a spelling bee as a kid?
johnwood said,
Wrote on December 13, 2005 @ 11:51 am
Well the next time someone calls me a looser I won’t feel so bad
Anonymous said,
Wrote on December 13, 2005 @ 4:09 pm
Yeah! Preach it, brother! And ignore the ignorami who tell you it’s not worth talking about; they clearly have their own insecurities, and probably don’t do work that requires precise communication.
breichelt said,
Wrote on December 13, 2005 @ 5:59 pm
yes John, when people call you a ‘looser’ you have nothing to be mad about
I dont really mind that guy Michael getting all bent out of shape either, but he must’ve been pretty pissed to actually comment!