Using the word loose as the word lose. Why?

[kwetu]

It seems so many on MN use loose in place of lose, I see it on here regularly. Could possibly understand if they had similar meanings..but they are not interchangeable in any way to my knowledge.

I saw ‘lone behold’ on here this week!

I know, that's why I asked the context as a slim slice of cake (sliver) seemed odd in a book about the jungle. If the author wrote about a snake slithering it would be correct.

It could have been a sliver (slither) of tree bark. A small slice of anything, doesn't have to be cake - there are plenty of sliceable things in the jungle, aren't there? My knowledge of jungle life is limited, but I think the words could be used in a confused way even in the jungle.

Indeed. I wasn't arguing just curious.

And sorry I was being pedantic, but this IS pedants' corner...😀

I'd still like to know what the book actually said.

And I do. I didn’t start this thread or comment negatively on it. I merely added a third category of pedants for everyone’s information!

Advice and advise, there was one recently and it changed the whole sense of the op. Took me 2 goes to get my head round it.

Advice and advise is so easy to get right, as they sound different. Practice and practise makes me think as they sound the same.

Mices
Correcting people can prevent them from continuing to make a fool of themselves.

"A fool of themselves? Should this be fools of themselves? 🤔"

Maybe. Each person only makes of their self one fool, though.

I'm here to learn!

It's the same principle. Spell it with a c when it's a noun and with an s when it's a verb.

@CaptainMyCaptain I know the theory. I just have to think about which is which.

The one that regularly catches me out is compliment/complement. I know they have different meanings, but no matter what context I use it in my brain always thinks "compliment" is right.

@kwetu phew! I'd begun to think it was me.

Also licence and license, or practice and practise (I just read an example of that common confusion in this thread); 'c' for the noun and 's' for the verb. I think Americans just have the one spelling for both which makes the confusion even more understandable.

@kwetu border boarder. the people who pronounce it as the same word are usually speaking in slang! the same as order and hoarder! border should be pronounced as aw as in bawrder just the same as order!

@CaptainMyCaptain
Oh ye of little faith, of course I know what slither and sliver mean and it was definitely a thin slice which was needed.

@CaptainMyCaptain cannot be bothered to flick through whole book. It was a very good read for 9 year old DD and I apart from that irritation! The Explorer by Katherine Rundell.

And me and me!! Not I.
throws self down well

The Welsh border is Offa’s Dyke. The Welsh boarder is Rhys Ifans in Notting Hill. Very different things.