RE: Lose vs Loose (was Re: Items in a Series and Comma Use?)

[Beth Agnew <Beth -dot- Agnew -at- senecac -dot- on -dot- ca>]

I blame the sleeper effect. Not the one recently discounted
(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeper_effect>), but a similarly insidious
persistence of bad grammar from non-credible sources. We've seen it's
instead of its, they're instead of their, you're instead of your, etc. so
often, in so many supposedly credible places, that without even thinking
about it we write the incorrect word.

I never, ever was uncertain of when to use the possessive its versus the
contraction it's, but I find myself typing the wrong one at the wrong time
on too many occasions. Usually when tired, overworked, or sending an e-mail
to a list to be read by thousands of people so that I can be utterly
humiliated in public.
--Beth

-----Original Message-----
John Cook wrote:
... I find it humorous that people ... consistently use
the entirely wrong word as part of their justification, thus damaging
the impression of authority.  ...

The "lose" versus "loose" error seems nearly as rampant as "your"
versus "you're", and I think we do our readers a service when we point
it out.  I admit that I struggle with the best way to do that without
coming across as a grammar cop.



--------

Beth Agnew
Professor, Technical Communication
Seneca College of Applied Arts & Technology
Toronto, ON 416-491-5050 x3133
http://www.tinyurl.com/83u5u

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