# I'm going to LOOSE my mind! (dorky spelling rant) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 30, 2002, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-loose-my-mind-dorky-spelling-rant/116629 "2002-06-30T01:28:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![fallom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@fallom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fallom)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-loose-my-mind-dorky-spelling-rant/116629/41 "2002-07-01T02:33:06Z")
I think this has been said before, but… Language evolves. Get over it. ---
**Author:** ![Wikkit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c0e974/32.png) [@Wikkit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wikkit)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-loose-my-mind-dorky-spelling-rant/116629/42 "2002-07-01T02:51:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by fallom \* > \*\*I think this has been said before, but… > > Language evolves. Get over it. \*\* |[sup]=[/sup]A110//\ U R0XX0RZ!!! 7HA//|\ **Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-loose-my-mind-dorky-spelling-rant/116629/43 "2002-07-01T12:53:23Z") > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by fallom \* > \*\*Language evolves. Get over it. \*\* Unfortunately, the language is doing the exact opposite (devolve?). Look at most message boards these days. The language is being butchered! If you take **belladonna’s** example of “loose” and “lose”, that’s not language evolving, my friend, that’s a mass-murduring of the language. I hate to say it, but I sometimes judge the _content_ of the posts I read if it looks like it was written by a 12-year-old on [mtv.com](http://mtv.com). And like **belladonna** said here: > [@](#): > > \*\*…every time someone uses a word incorrectly, it risks one more person being mislead to believe it is the correct usage. \*\* Again, this is NOT the evolution of the language. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-loose-my-mind-dorky-spelling-rant/116629/44 "2002-07-01T13:11:29Z")
it all sounds like nonsence too me ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-loose-my-mind-dorky-spelling-rant/116629/45 "2002-07-01T14:15:34Z")
I’m sure this has come up before, but… Yes, language evolves over time. However, at any given _point_ in time, a language has a set of rules. Those rules can be determined (by observation) and then applied to any given _utterance_ to determine whether or not it is _well-formed_ - or, in more conventional terms, grammatically correct. So, “language evolves” is not some magic phrase which, once uttered, absolves you from any crimes against syntax which you may commit. Besides, although “language evolves”, it doesn’t necessarily evolve in a direction which will retrospectively validate your errors. If you make common mistakes in spelling or grammar, you may, to be sure, be speaking the English of the Future. On the other hand, it is _at least_ as likely that you’re just making mistakes. ---
**Author:** ![Ferrous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Ferrous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferrous)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-loose-my-mind-dorky-spelling-rant/116629/46 "2002-07-01T16:33:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wikkit \* > \*\*|[sup]=[/sup]A110//\ U R0XX0RZ!!! 7HA//|\ \*\* You know what really bugs me about this sentence? _I understood it!_ Gah! And, **bella** , I’ve got your back! ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2002, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-loose-my-mind-dorky-spelling-rant/116629/47 "2002-07-02T01:47:16Z")
[It’s PUS, dammit!!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=91693) ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2002, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-loose-my-mind-dorky-spelling-rant/116629/48 "2002-07-02T01:47:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tetsusaru \* > \*\*To flout is to wilfully and egregiously disobey. To flaunt is to display ostentatiously. Unless you`re planning on wearing it on your head, a rule cannot be flaunted. \*\* Then what would you call what Americans do with the constitution, and the British with their right to not be thrown in jail/goal for safely and sensibly crossing the road at 89 degrees to the curb, or not lying about belief ion God every morning? (Yes, I agree with all the rants above) ---
**Author:** ![BalmainBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@BalmainBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BalmainBoy)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2002, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-loose-my-mind-dorky-spelling-rant/116629/49 "2002-07-02T08:18:07Z")
[http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=disocunt](http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=disocunt) , "satandard ---
**Author:** ![BalmainBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@BalmainBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BalmainBoy)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2002, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-loose-my-mind-dorky-spelling-rant/116629/50 "2002-07-02T08:19:34Z")
[Fun with Google](http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=disocunt) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2002, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-loose-my-mind-dorky-spelling-rant/116629/51 "2002-07-02T12:44:56Z")
[more fun with google](http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=yopu&btnG=Google+Search&meta=) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2002, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-loose-my-mind-dorky-spelling-rant/116629/52 "2002-07-02T12:46:26Z")
[38,000 hits for ‘everone’](http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=everone&meta=) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-loose-my-mind-dorky-spelling-rant/116629/53 "2002-07-03T11:09:17Z")
I’ve opened a competition thread in IMHO - find the most prolific misspelling - [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=123696) if anyone is interested… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-loose-my-mind-dorky-spelling-rant/116629.md?page=2)