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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to wish people knew when to use 'lose' rather than 'loose'?

54 replies

hambo · 15/09/2009 20:07

AAArgh!

You don't want to LOOSE weight - you want to lose it!!

...and so on

OP posts:
dizzymare · 16/09/2009 23:36

I never get this right

pania · 17/09/2009 00:14

When people write "pour over" a book instead of "pore over", I always get a mental image of someone pouring a jug of custard over a book.
Why custard, I don't know, but it makes me laugh.

Loose annoys me though.

ShowOfHands · 17/09/2009 08:30

It's nothing to do with dyslexia. I don't think a single person on this thread is genuinely suggesting that anybody with dyslexia not be allowed to communicate, though point me in the direction of somebody who is and I will write a strongly worded letter.

The simple fact is that grammar, pragmatics, semantics, spelling etc are all misunderstood and mistakes are becoming more common.

Can I throw in etc written as ect?

WebDude · 17/09/2009 08:47

YANBU - a little bit more care is all it takes.

However, like most people, the odd typo creeps in on e-mail and forums.

It's when something is intended to 'last' - the street sign, the shop staff with "Bed's" and even the mattress, that it isn't easy to excuse.

I'm not so finicky that some instruction manual with poor translation is in a box, however, as my translation skills are close to nil, and there is a big difference between day-to-day translation work and technical 'jargon' that some devices need, so all credit to them for having a good attempt at getting the meaning across.

One great sign (no errors, though made me read it twice) was in a hotel in Leningrad, in the 70s. Hotel could switch to a hospital in perhaps 30 minutes, from my observations, having alternating TV lounges and cafes on landings up the staircase, and pigeon holes at each floor behind a large desk (for keys).

The notice in each room said that "Solicitors are not allowed. The key lady will break down the door if she suspects hanky panky."

The "key ladies" looked like those East German shot-putt competitors. They could have been body builders and a wooden door would not have survived!

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