Fun with Conan the Grammarian

For some reason, people can’t seem to get the difference between lose and loose straight. It’s probably due to the rushed nature of correspondence these days, most notably in the comments section of blogs we virulently disagree with. Why is that? Probably because we want to express our displeasure with immediacy and fervor, because that blogger must be educated about our viewpoint right this instant. And if we stop to think about what we’re writing, we won’t send it at all.

For this reason (as well as the sake of grammatical correctness), I urge you to slow down and think when you’re writing. You may feel it’s a moral imperative to inform the food blog writer that the term “Dutch-Processed Cocoa” should once and for all be displaced by “Alkalized Unsweetened Cocoa Powder” so that non-Dutch cooks aren’t offended. You might, while you’re at it, feel the urge to call the writer an idiot and a Dutchist. You might even want to insult her mother and threaten her children’s lives to drive the point home.

But take a minute to cool down before you fire off that comment or email. Is it really essential that everyone everywhere knows exactly how you feel about every issue?

Oh. Ahem. Where was I? Right. Lose vs. loose.

Loose is primarily an adjective, meaning “free from bonds or restraints”; the opposite of tight. As a verb, it means “to release.”

Lose is a verb that means to fail inadvertently to retain something; to come to be without something through accident, theft, etc.

How to keep them straight: A favorite word these days is “loser.” Few folks ever confuse that one with its counterpart “looser.” So stick an “r” on the end of your word and use accordingly.