Loose vs Lose (was RE: [Mono-devel-list] Writing assembly)

[Ben Maurer]

Actually, I know quite well the difference.

The main issue is that I was writing this at school, which has keyboards
that are pretty sticky (think, many people use the computer after lunch
:-).

-- Ben

On Thu, 2004-02-12 at 15:40, Chris Day wrote:
> This is not meant to be a criticism of Ben personally, but I see this so
> often that someone must be teaching this somewhere or it has been
> ingrained from other people constantly using it, especially on Slashdot.
> Frankly I am about to _lose_ it!
> 
> There seems a tendency for people to mix up _lose_ and _loose_, which
> mean completely different things.  Normally, since English as a language
> is quite _loose_, I can usually forgive this, especially on the internet
> as English is not everyone's first language. However, for (I assume)
> quite intelligent people, getting this wrong should not be a daily
> occurrence!
> 
> Thank you for reading if you have got this far and go nuts on my grammar
> if you wish since I'm being a word nazi! :))
> 
> Cheers,
> Chris
> 
> Meanings taken from dictionary.com
> 
> Loose - 
> Not fastened, restrained, or contained: loose bricks. 
> Not taut, fixed, or rigid: a loose anchor line; a loose chair leg. 
> Free from confinement or imprisonment; unfettered: criminals loose in
> the neighborhood; dogs that are loose on the streets. 
> Not tight-fitting or tightly fitted: loose shoes. 
> Not bound, bundled, stapled, or gathered together: loose papers. 
> Not compact or dense in arrangement or structure: loose gravel. 
> Lacking a sense of restraint or responsibility; idle: loose talk. 
> Not formal; relaxed: a loose atmosphere at the club. 
> Lacking conventional moral restraint in sexual behavior. 
> Not literal or exact: a loose translation. 
> Characterized by a free movement of fluids in the body: a loose cough;
> loose bowels.
> 
> Lose -
> To be unsuccessful in retaining possession of; mislay: He's always
> losing his car keys. 
> 
> To be deprived of (something one has had): lost her art collection in
> the fire; lost her job. 
> To be left alone or desolate because of the death of: lost his wife. 
> To be unable to keep alive: a doctor who has lost very few patients. 
> To be unable to keep control or allegiance of: lost his temper at the
> meeting; is losing supporters by changing his mind. 
> To fail to win; fail in: lost the game; lost the court case. 
> To fail to use or take advantage of: Don't lose a chance to improve your
> position. 
> To fail to hear, see, or understand: We lost the plane in the fog. I
> lost her when she started speaking about thermodynamics. 
> 
> To let (oneself) become unable to find the way. 
> To remove (oneself), as from everyday reality into a fantasy world. 
> To rid oneself of: lost five pounds. 
> To consume aimlessly; waste: lost a week in idle occupations. 
> To wander from or become ignorant of: lose one's way. 
> 
> To elude or outdistance: lost their pursuers. 
> To be outdistanced by: chased the thieves but lost them. 
> To become slow by (a specified amount of time). Used of a timepiece. 
> To cause or result in the loss of: Failure to reply to the advertisement
> lost her the job. 
> To cause to be destroyed. Usually used in the passive: Both planes were
> lost in the crash. 
> To cause to be damned. 
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Ben Maurer [mailto:05mauben at hawken.edu] 
> > Sent: Friday, 13 February 2004 4:15 AM
> > To: mono-devel-list at lists.ximian.com; eric.durand-tremblay.1 at ulaval.ca
> > Subject: Re: [Mono-devel-list] Writing assembly
> snip
> > testing of how fast your compiler is. Not a big deal, but if 
> > you dont have to loose it you should not.
> snip
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