A pet peeve of mine ....

[edprocoat]

Since general Discussion seems to be the place to air these things, does it bother anyone else when someone misuses the word loose. For Bonsai I only come to B-Nut but I do frequent many other sites such as religious forums, Linux forums, political forums etc. and I notice many people, young and old alike seem to have no clue as to the difference between the word "loose" and the word "lose" .

I have seen people post things like - I hope I can loose some weight, I would not want to loose that plant due to "x".... and even - ever since I started loosing my hair. Its simple people loose means loose as not stable.

Loose
[ looss ]


1.not firmly attached: not firmly fastened or fixed in place
2.slack: not fastened or pulled tight
3.not tight-fitting: not fitting closely and thus baggy

while the word lose means
lose
[ looz ]


1.have something taken away: to cease to possess or have something such as a job or home
2.make somebody forfeit something: to be the cause of somebody's failure to obtain, win, or maintain something
3.mislay something: to be unable to find something, often only temporarily

So its proper to say, My tree is losing its leaves, or I hope I don't lose my hair etc.

So let me say loosely I am not saying we should set loose our wrath on those may lose their point by the loose use of the word loose, when they should have written lose, in reality what would I lose by ignoring the misuse of the word? Sorry if I lost you with this post...

ed

 

[Paradox]

So many times I see people that cant seem to use or spell the correct word for the sentence, or discussion. It makes me sad for our educational system when people graduating from high school cant spell simple words that I learned in 3rd or 4th grade. Either that or they are just too lazy and/or dont care. Pretty appalling when you think that these are our future CEOs and leaders.

 

[coh]

Their you go again, complaining about grammer and spelling. Its not as bad as you think!

"Me fail English? Thats unpossible!"

 

[edprocoat]

Their you go again, complaining about grammer and spelling. Its not as bad as you think!

"Me fail English? Thats unpossible!"

LOL !

The sad thing is that if enough people start talking that way in about 5 years unpossible will be in the dictionary............


ed

 

[Neli]

Dont forget that many people are not English speaking here. I learned English at home, on my own, and I have problems with words like that.
Like been and being
die and dye
loose and lose
advise and advice
and some similar ones.

I just cant remember some time which one to use.
The fact that old age is setting in and I have to distinguish English from 9 other languages I know does not help also.
How many languages that are not your native languages, do You write and speak without any mistakes
Ed, I have been reading your blog and almost quoted something from it yesterday, for the forum here. I like it.

 

[lordy]

I dont think the problem is that people cannot spell, but as Neli said, it is a problem knowing when to use the proper word. I notice many people misuse words when unsure of proper tense. Improper use of words as they pertain to time: "it have been to long..." instead of " it has been too long..." for example.
" I will do xxxxx" instead of "I would do xxxx"
Unfortunately, we just read it and realize what that person meant.

 

[Dave Leppo]

...and "spellcheck" will never catch this, as both are legitimate words.

 

[Anthony]

Hmm,

an what happens if your English is British, colour - color - centre - center - and have grown up on an island where spoken English is dialect - alrighty manh, ah does do dat fuh yuh.
Chuckle.

Here I suggest adaptability and flexibility.
Good Day
Anthony

 

[jk_lewis]

Spelling doesn't bother me -- especially homonyms or near homonyms -- loose/lose, to and too, etc. Those can be misused merely because of haste and lazy proofreading.

MY biggest word hate is using the apostrophe on a plural -- as in apostrophes are not used in plural's. IT IS PLURALS. You even see that on roadsigns (NO apostrophe) and billboards (no apostrophe) these days (no apostrophe).

 

[Lazylightningny]

I grew up in brooklyn. We have our own version of the english language. Plus, when you're using your cell phone you (I) tend to ignore some niceties of grammar like capitalization.

 

[GrimLore]

Spelling doesn't bother me -- especially homonyms or near homonyms -- loose/lose, to and too, etc. Those can be misused merely because of haste and lazy proofreading.

MY biggest word hate is using the apostrophe on a plural -- as in apostrophes are not used in plural's. IT IS PLURALS. You even see that on roadsigns (NO apostrophe) and billboards (no apostrophe) these days (no apostrophe).

Funny you mentioned that - Had to add Tropicals to the dictionary on this forum.

Grimmy

 

[tmmason10]

It really irritates me when lose/loose is misused in print or on sites such as CNN.com. I don't understand it either Ed.

 

[Dave Leppo]

...and why does everyone have to repeat the word "is" twice when speaking? You may not have noticed, but you may now.

 

[Deadwood]

I use my phone as well. It attempts to correct my "grammatical mistakes" by inserting the wrong word from time to time on its own merit.
I'm a bit confused...plural words are made so by adding an s....Possesive words use the apostrophe.
"That is Jack's ball." or Those are Jack's trees.
The apostrophe shows possession, not pluralism.
Are you saying billboards are using the apostrophe in simple plural words?

 

[buddhamonk]

So many times I see people that cant seem to use or spell the correct word for the sentence, or discussion. It makes me sad for our educational system when people graduating from high school cant spell simple words that I learned in 3rd or 4th grade. Either that or they are just too lazy and/or dont care. Pretty appalling when you think that these are our future CEOs and leaders.

LOl, says the guy who doesn't use apostrophes

 

[MrFancyPlants]

I hate it when I misspell Watt in a subject of a post, but can't figure out how to edit the subject to correct it.

 

[jk_lewis]

Are you saying billboards are using the apostrophe in simple plural words?

Yup. We southerners are at the leading edge of the "new" English.

 

[Vance Wood]

I grew up in brooklyn. We have our own version of the english language. Plus, when you're using your cell phone you (I) tend to ignore some niceties of grammar like capitalization.

Da falkin sell fone is ruinen our falkin language.

 

[Fangorn]

I think your just being to picky

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

How about misspelling "practicing" in a signature file?