# Loosing vs. Losing **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 19, 2016, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-vs-losing/769036 "2016-10-19T15:57:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-vs-losing/769036/21 "2016-10-19T18:20:51Z")
Clothes/cloths is another one. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-vs-losing/769036/22 "2016-10-19T18:37:38Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > Not related, but, people who add apostrophes to words that end in ‘s’ like get’s or eat’s. or decades, like the 1980s. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-vs-losing/769036/23 "2016-10-19T18:42:33Z")
Actual email received by me yesterday: > [@](#): > > Should there be apostrophe’s in “avocado’s” below? > > “The trick to making perfect guacamole is using good, ripe avocado’s. Check for ripeness by gently pressing the outside of the avocado’s.” I appreciate that she asked the question, but it’s the “apostrophe’s” that makes me cringe. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-vs-losing/769036/24 "2016-10-19T18:44:03Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > Clothes/cloths is another one. That one is hard for me. But I’m aware of it and try to figure it out before I made a mistake. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-vs-losing/769036/25 "2016-10-19T18:48:58Z")
I think the reason many people spell “lose” as “loose” and “losing” as “loosing” is because they’re thinking of the pronunciation/spelling of “choose” and “choosing.” ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-vs-losing/769036/26 "2016-10-19T18:56:39Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > Actual email received by me yesterday: > > > [@](#): > > > > Should there be apostrophe’s in “avocado’s” below? > > > > “The trick to making perfect guacamole is using good, ripe avocado’s. Check for ripeness by gently pressing the outside of the avocado’s.” > > I appreciate that she asked the question, but it’s the “apostrophe’s” that makes me cringe. Maybe she thinks there should be apostrophes? Along with clothes/cloths, I’ll add breathe/breath. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-vs-losing/769036/27 "2016-10-19T19:38:49Z")
And I give you the Grand Poobah: there/their/they’re ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-vs-losing/769036/28 "2016-10-19T20:58:03Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > or decades, like the 1980s. That’s one of those things that, for a while at least, was a quasi-accepted style. An apostrophe “offsetting” numbers and sometimes acronyms like “CD’s” or “DVD’s”. I used to do it, but I don’t anymore as I think it’s cleaner and _more_ correct to just write “80s” vs. “80’s”. But I don’t think it’s necessarily _wrong_ to do so, so when I see it I try not to let it bother my pedantry meter too much. I know this one alone could be a whole thread topic for debate. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-vs-losing/769036/29 "2016-10-19T21:54:29Z")
The one that’s currently grating on my nerves is the usage of the phrases “should of/would of/could of”. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-vs-losing/769036/30 "2016-10-19T22:04:35Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > The one that’s currently grating on my nerves is the usage of the phrases “should of/would of/could of”. I agree. The correct form is shoulda/woulda/coulda. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-vs-losing/769036/31 "2016-10-19T22:16:28Z")
Jibe and gibe. As for the OP, I’m at a loess. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-vs-losing/769036/32 "2016-10-19T22:29:17Z")
My husband almost lost his shot with me back in college, when he wrote on my dorm whiteboard: ‘‘ **Spice** , I think I am loosing my mind.’’ The message was creepy enough without the error. I am, generally speaking, a descriptivist, but there are certain cases in which inaccuracy hampers communication, and this is one of them. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-vs-losing/769036/33 "2016-10-19T22:33:35Z")
I should speak up about quiet/quite. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-vs-losing/769036/34 "2016-10-19T22:36:58Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > I should speak up about quiet/quite. Quite, you! (I suspect autocorrect is not helping in any of these matters.) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-vs-losing/769036/35 "2016-10-19T22:40:44Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Quite, you! > > (I suspect autocorrect is not helping in any of these matters.) More like autoincorrect. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-vs-losing/769036/36 "2016-10-19T22:41:18Z")
What I can’t wrap my mind around is how “decimate” has come to mean “complete destruction”. “Deci-” means “ten”! It’s basic Greek roots! ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-vs-losing/769036/37 "2016-10-19T23:28:38Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Jibe and gibe. > > As for the OP, I’m at a loess. Never saw gibe, but jive is often misused for jibe. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-vs-losing/769036/38 "2016-10-20T01:51:59Z")
Cite/site/sight. You can be cited for trespassing if you are sighted at the wrong site. ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-vs-losing/769036/39 "2016-10-20T02:13:57Z")
\*Who \*and _whom_. This problem is easily avoided if you remember one simple rule of thumb: If you don’t know the difference between \*who \*and _whom_, never use _whom_. > [@Trancephalic](#): > > What I can’t wrap my mind around is how “decimate” has come to mean “complete destruction”. “Deci-” means “ten”! It’s basic Greek roots! “Deci-” here is Latin (although the Greek and Latin number words are clearly related). ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-vs-losing/769036/40 "2016-10-20T03:13:55Z")
I see “paid” misspelled as “payed” so often nowadays I expect it to become an accepted variant spelling in a decade or so. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-vs-losing/769036.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loosing-vs-losing/769036.md?page=3)