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Cutting Loose
by Puddin
Loose is pronounced with an "S" sound. One has loose change. One looses an arrow, or loosens a bolt with a spanner. One is at loose ends. One cuts loose a kite string.
Lose is pronounced with a "Z" sound. One loses one's mind, or one's way.
Usually, one doubles an "O" to make a long "OO" sound, but in this particular case the vowel sound is much the same and the doubling marks a change in the consonant. The double "O" in "loose" does make a difference, because it keeps its long sound when you fiddle with it, whereas "lose" turns to "lost" and changes both sounds at the same time.
You can always tell the difference between "lose" and "loose" if you say the word aloud.
She let her dog run loose, which is a sure way to lose it.
I tightened the loose nut on the axle, because I didn't want to lose it at high speed and crash.
If one loses weight, one's trousers may become loose. If one's trousers become too loose, one may lose them.
Comments
Common Problems
Thanks for pointing that out to authors here. I've seen those two words confused a lot.
Two other similar words are choose and chose. Chose is the past tense of choose but I see both of them used incorrectly quite often.
I choose to improve my writing as of right now.
I chose to write with a computer many years ago.
I hope this helps.
- Terry
Another rule
Without checking, I can't say if this has confused any authors, but I'll mention it anyway...
Its / It's.
It's = shortcut for "it is" (e.g. It's raining)
Its = any other usage (e.g. The dog ate its dinner)
And while I'm thinking of apostrophe abuse:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostrophe#Greengrocers.27_apos...
(Yes, I am a proud owner of a certain Lynne Truss book!)
--Ben
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As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!