Loose/lose

[Lunaballoon]

Verb = lose, e.g. losing the will to live
Adjective = loose, e.g. loose waistband

Loose now seems to be the default spelling for both, why?

Same with Advice/Advise. Mostly see Advise.

I'm not sure about it being the default, it's just if you aware of it, then you will tend to notice every instance of this error.

As to why, surely it's an understandable error as the long 'oo' sound in 'losing' is unusual for a single 'o' (compare 'hosing'), and people typing on a forum will make this kind of slip. Also, there is a verb 'loose', so that probably doesn't help to keep things clear!

"Loose" is a perfectly logical spelling for the pronunciation of "lose" and not particularly logical for the pronunciation of "loose". That's why.

The only way I've found to teach someone who doesn't immediately get it is to point out that "lose" and "lost" have the same number of "o"s so they go together as a team.

It would be clearer if we spelt them "luze" and "looss" but it's a bit late for that.