# Holy shit. Nobody knows the difference between "lose" and "loose" any more. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 1, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-shit-nobody-knows-the-difference-between-lose-and-loose-any-more/562547 "2010-12-01T16:25:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Khaki\_Campbell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Khaki\_Campbell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khaki_Campbell)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-shit-nobody-knows-the-difference-between-lose-and-loose-any-more/562547/62 "2010-12-03T06:51:32Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > It’s not hard. your a looser lol ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-shit-nobody-knows-the-difference-between-lose-and-loose-any-more/562547/63 "2010-12-03T06:52:41Z")
More than 60 posts and no one has mentioned the led/lead problem? I see this a lot these days: “Like lambs lead to slaughter.” Uh, no. The past tense of the verb “to lead” sounds like the element “lead,” but is spelled “led.” And the problem with the less/fewer thing is that now many people think you should \*never \*use “less,” and are making mistakes the other way: It’s fewer than ten miles to the next stop. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-shit-nobody-knows-the-difference-between-lose-and-loose-any-more/562547/64 "2010-12-03T07:31:27Z")
I’m annoyed by the dictionary [accepting](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/irregardless?show=0&t=1291361441) “irregardless” as a word, just because people say it a lot. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-shit-nobody-knows-the-difference-between-lose-and-loose-any-more/562547/65 "2010-12-03T07:40:33Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > I am familiar with the phrase as a result of the BBC series _To the Manor Born_. That was a pun. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-shit-nobody-knows-the-difference-between-lose-and-loose-any-more/562547/66 "2010-12-03T08:52:12Z")
Many people don’t seem to know the difference between “advice” and “advise”. On on-line forums you will see people asking for “advise” over a particular problem. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-shit-nobody-knows-the-difference-between-lose-and-loose-any-more/562547/67 "2010-12-03T19:55:32Z")
Rigamarole is just a lose cannon. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-shit-nobody-knows-the-difference-between-lose-and-loose-any-more/562547/68 "2010-12-03T21:11:04Z")
Head over to [Collegehumor.com](http://Collegehumor.com) and check out “Sexy Spelling Song”. Kinda NSFW, but just barely. I’d link to it, but I’m at work. ---
**Author:** ![FallenAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@FallenAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallenAngel)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-shit-nobody-knows-the-difference-between-lose-and-loose-any-more/562547/69 "2010-12-03T21:55:47Z")
Decimate does not, and, by the structure of the word itself, cannot, mean to destroy completely. Anytime I hear, “The village was decimated,” I think to myself, “Well at least 90 percent survived.” Turns out that’s never the case. ---
**Author:** ![kath94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-shit-nobody-knows-the-difference-between-lose-and-loose-any-more/562547/70 "2010-12-06T18:48:14Z")
> [@Rayne\_Man](#): > > Many people don’t seem to know the difference between “advice” and “advise”. On on-line forums you will see people asking for “advise” over a particular problem. I’ve noticed this one. A lot. I think spellcheck either auto-corrects or suggests a change and those who don’t know the difference just accept it. I wouldn’t advise it, but nobody asked my advice. ---
**Author:** ![lisalan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/0ea827/32.png) [@lisalan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisalan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-shit-nobody-knows-the-difference-between-lose-and-loose-any-more/562547/71 "2010-12-06T18:58:51Z")
I’ve found spelling error in every book I have ever read. I guess the editors aren’t doing their jobs. ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-shit-nobody-knows-the-difference-between-lose-and-loose-any-more/562547/72 "2010-12-06T19:42:35Z")
I have a hard time believing you folks haven’t noticed the misuse of brake for break… as in “Give me a brake.” or “We were on our lunch brake and…” Seems to be a younger generation thingie, but it drives me nutsoid. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-shit-nobody-knows-the-difference-between-lose-and-loose-any-more/562547/73 "2010-12-06T19:48:37Z")
> [@Cabin\_Fever](#): > > I have a hard time believing you folks haven’t noticed the misuse of brake for break… > as in “Give me a brake.” or “We were on our lunch brake and…” > > Seems to be a younger generation thingie, but it drives me nutsoid. It was mentioned in post #6. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-shit-nobody-knows-the-difference-between-lose-and-loose-any-more/562547/74 "2010-12-06T19:56:37Z")
> [@Cabin\_Fever](#): > > I have a hard time believing you folks haven’t noticed the misuse of brake for break… > as in “Give me a brake.” or “We were on our lunch brake and…” > > Seems to be a younger generation thingie, but it drives me nutsoid. Maybe they meant they were standing on a device that slows down lunch. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-shit-nobody-knows-the-difference-between-lose-and-loose-any-more/562547/75 "2010-12-06T19:57:29Z")
> [@lisalan](#): > > I’ve found spelling error in every book I have ever read. I guess the editors aren’t doing their jobs. Exacly. ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-shit-nobody-knows-the-difference-between-lose-and-loose-any-more/562547/76 "2010-12-06T20:28:16Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > It was mentioned in post #6. :smack: Well, I accidentally missed taht post. I publicly delcare my ignorence on this subject. I’m greatful too you for publicly pointing this out. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-shit-nobody-knows-the-difference-between-lose-and-loose-any-more/562547/77 "2010-12-06T20:54:49Z")
I’ll confess that I didn’t even know about the discrete/discreet distinction until someone on this board pointed it out to me, a year or two ago. I knew the two different meanings, but had never realized that they were spelled differently. And when I told my mother (an elementary school teacher) about it, she hadn’t heard of it, either. Now that I know, of course, I do make the effort to use the correct one. The easy way to remember is that the 'e’s in “discrete” are separated. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-shit-nobody-knows-the-difference-between-lose-and-loose-any-more/562547/78 "2010-12-06T21:29:26Z")
What’s with the recent substitution of “ect.” when the writer means “etc.”? I’ve only seen this error proliferate in the past 5 years. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-shit-nobody-knows-the-difference-between-lose-and-loose-any-more/562547/79 "2010-12-06T21:36:44Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Now that I know, of course, I do make the effort to use the correct one. The easy way to remember is that the 'e’s in “discrete” are separated. Thats definetly the devise that I use for all intensive porpoises. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-shit-nobody-knows-the-difference-between-lose-and-loose-any-more/562547/80 "2010-12-06T21:53:05Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > What’s with the recent substitution of “ect.” when the writer means “etc.”? I’ve only seen this error proliferate in the past 5 years. It’s a supressed desire for electroconvulsive therapy. All the kids are doing it these days. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-shit-nobody-knows-the-difference-between-lose-and-loose-any-more/562547/81 "2010-12-07T00:26:06Z")
> [@dhkendall](#): > > My pastor … the Power Point that’s up during the sermon… (Not wishing to hijack… but a sermon with Power point? I think I’ve just seen a vision of hell…) 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-shit-nobody-knows-the-difference-between-lose-and-loose-any-more/562547.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-shit-nobody-knows-the-difference-between-lose-and-loose-any-more/562547.md?page=5)