to post this spelling correction? LOSE to mean the loss of something

[Horsie]

I'm on a public-service mission to correct one of the world's most common misspellings. I've seen it thousands and thousands of times online. I think it must be the most misspelt word in the world. Saw it twice today just on Mumsnet.

No shade AT ALL. I literally want to help people look better in writing.

Here goes:

To lose something is spelt LOSE and not loose. Loose only ever means not tight, or to let something go, like a horse. I turned my horse loose. I hope I never lose him.

I'm losing the will to live.
I always lose competitions.
That person is a loser.

My jeans are loose.
My ring goes loosely over my knuckle.
I'm a loser wearing loose jeans.
I always lose my ring in the pool because it becomes loose.

I never realised how commonly this word was misspelt until the internet. I suppose because "lose" does sound like a double "O" with its oooo sound (as opposed to rhyming with hose). That's probably where the confusion comes in, and the wrong spelling is being perpetuated millions and millions of times because of the internet.

I wish someone like JK Rowling with a huge reach would tweet the correct spellings, as a public service. No one likes to look bad in writing.

So there you have it, folks. Write it down a hundred times.

Lose
Lose
Lose
Lose

LOOSE

A helpful tip, for those who may not know, is that most tech has some form of dictionary check. Can use it both when you’re typing or on other people’s posts.

You're ambitious, OP.

People can't even spell 'to' anymore. One of the first few words we learned to spell at school, if not before.

They randomly add an extra o if it's at the end of a sentence. Or whenever else they feel like it.

I agree it's unlikely employers wouldn't interview someone just because of this, but if you have huge numbers of people applying for a job then you are looking for any reason to put applications in the 'don't interview' pile. Personally, my main concern would be that the applicant didn't take the time to go back and check over their application because my area of work needs people to be meticulous.

Apologies if this bugbear has been mentioned already but brought and bought?!? What the actual fuck, they mean different things, I've just encountered it on another thread so have come here to irrationally vent😂
I have been known to ask where did you bring it to? Fucking hell what a nob I am, 😂

@Bearwithi you might be a nob, but you probably meant that you are a knob.
😊

Thanks to pp I have learnt about Muphry's Law. I had not heard of it.

@thecatdidit when using it in this context I always spell it nob, not sure if it's right, the irony eh🙂

It is so irritating to read anything that has these far too common mistakes in as you have to keep doing a mental stop-and-check while you translate what they actually meant.

I know that there are people who are dyslexic or have other processing problems who can't help it, but for everyone else, if you don't want to be judged as being a bit dim, then bloody well learn the correct usage!

The problem is is that it looks like it rhymes with Hose. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I’m with you OP, I hate bad spelling. Also bad grammar and bad command of language in general.
Once went past a tanning salon which had the cost of a session displayed in the window followed by the phrase
’You get what you pay for’. I think whoever wrote that thought it was a compliment of the service instead of the exact opposite! Always makes me laugh when I think of that.

The thing that I find irrationally irritating is when people think "thank you" is one word. I don't know why that one bothers me more than other common errors.

The pp is not being a pedantic arse.

A word is either right or wrong. If it is wrong, then people need to learn the right way, and how can they do that unless someone tells them?

Do English teachers correct spelling mistakes? Yes they do, and for good reason. Do people remember? Not always, so finding out the right spelling from a thread such as this one can only be a good thing.

I think it's a specific education from a specific time. I was at primary school in the 90s. I'm bright (objectively - top gcses and A levels and a Russel group uni). I reached university and realised I knew zero, absolutely zero, grammar. I think this error is more spelling, and I've never mixed up lose/loose personally, but I regularly mixed up less/fewer and never had a particular lesson on things like present/past tense. I'm hopeless at punctuation too, no clue when to use what. My education was all about creativity I think (although not sure I'm that creative, i do remember doing lots of poetry though). I remember my university sending an email to all first year English students (yep, an English degree) inviting us to a suddenly created and new SPAG workshop, because they'd picked up how totally hopeless we were. I never had a spelling test and I bet lots of people my age never got picked up on this error at school. My children now are drilled on verbs/adjectives/adverbs/conjunctions/contractions etc. I've no clue. It's embarrassing because they're only in KS2. I think there's a bit of a "lost generation" for spelling and grammar. I've taught myself the minimum now but reading my old school work back, in year 10, I was barely using full stops and still getting great marks - madness! The national curriculum just didn't seem to value it for my generation at all.

I’m completely with you on this one!
How can people think it’s ‘of’ instead of ‘have’ they are totally different meanings.
I understand the contracted sound of the words but it doesn’t make any sense when it’s written down!
Would of - Would have
Could of - Could have
Should of - Should have
You don’t say ‘Can I of one of those sweets please?’
or ‘Can I have one have those sweets please?’

I used to work for a watch company and the amount of watches sent in by both jewellers and the public, because they were ‘loosing’ time, was ridiculous!

I think it's rude to go around correcting people's spelling on Facebook post and similar. You don't know their story, people are just typing quick and so I don't think it's comparable to a job application or something like that. My daughter is severely dyslexic and had spent much more time than other people learning to spell to a basic standard and she still really struggles and has 1:1 help with spelling at university.
Her come back is someone corrects her spelling is
Thank you, I'm severely dyslexic and I'm glad I could spell the word well enough for you to understand what I mean.
I'm not sure why you would need to use loose or lose in a job application, but anything important she will spell and grammar check, then get her computer to read it to her to see if anything sounds wrong and then get someone else to read it for her which picks up even more issues - there is no way she had time for that to just post something online or in a text message.

This is a mute point nowadays but I agree that people must not have free reign to spell ' lose' so loosely.

It’s all very well adding something along the lines ‘of course my rant doesn’t apply to those who are dyslexic’ but you don’t know who is dyslexic or not.

so you are still be rude to them

you are also being rude to those whose first language is not English, did not get a good education, have communication challenges, or who aren’t very good at typing.

it’s not a good look.

no one deserves to be sneered at for a spelling error

Or no one into one word.

It’s not noone it’s no one.

Two words.

Where is the popcorn emoji.

I'd just like to write a post to correct every dyslexic person out there because I've just seemingly discovered the Internet.

Guys. I've got news for you.

All along you've been spelling this word wrong! I know I know. It's just a simple misspelling, I can't understand how you could get it wrong, so I've come along here to help you!

Op, I don't doubt you have good intention.

But honestly you misunderstand dyslexia.

I can tell you what helps people look better in writing.

Software. Software that you dictate into that types what you want for you so you don't have to worry about a dumb letter.

But loose surely looks like it rhymes with moose and noose, which it does, so I’m not sure why that spelling seems a better choice 🤔

They may well be referring to Peter Noone, the lead singer in Herman's Hermits!!

I think pointing these mistakes out in a general way is a really good thing to do in case people don't know and are unwittingly making a mistake when they would rather not. No one is getting at people with dyslexia. Does that mean we can never talk about spelling (or punctuation, or grammar) in case someone gets offended or feels inferior? Utter madness.

See also:

abit, alot, incase, infact, infront, atleast, ofcourse

I move to the next post as soon as I see one of those, my brain can't cope.

Advice and advise is the one I see the most.