Every week I will demonstrate an example of poor English where a different word is used from the one intended. Sometimes this creates a grammatically incorrect sentence. Unfortunately, the mistake is usually so pervasive that we all do it and such errors are usually made by those who should know better – journalists working for national or global media outlets such as newspapers and television.
Loose / Lose
Do I really have to point this one out? Really? I know in Facebook English there is no difference but this is another one that really grinds me gears. Ok, I am going to be fair on people who only speak Facebook English and assume that there’s really a confusion over pronunciation. After all, the difference in the number of “o”s doesn’t change the sound that the “o” part makes, it changes the pronunciation of the “s”. With one “o”, the “s” makes a “zzz” sound – as in booze. With two “o”s, it becomes the softer “sss”, as in noose.
Lose – v. The opposite of find
Loose – adj. the opposite of tight
Is there a quick way of remembering? I managed to come up with to say in a Scottish accent: There’s a moose, loose about (aboot) this house (hoose)
