Lose the "loose"!

Back in October I posted a brief note about the AP misusing "loose" in an article.

But it seems that the incorrect use of "loose" is everywhere.

I've seen it incorrectly used a lot lately. I recently saw it again in an article about the Anna Mae He case on the Nashville City Paper Web site: "'Basically what's going to happen is that we're going to have to file paperwork to start the appeals process, or we're going to loose that right,' Baker said."

Folks, in that sense as a VERB, the correct word/spelling is "lose" (pronounced with a long "O" and a "Z": looz) -- one "O"!

Now, I realize that the long "O" sound may confuse some of you into spelling it with a second "O" -- but it is WRONG!

The word "loose" (pronounced with a long "O" and an "S") can be used as verb (meaning to let loose or release, to free from restraint, untie, to make less tight, etc.), but it is often used as an adjective.

Here's a phrase to help you remember that "loose" is not pronounced or used as "lose": Goose on the loose.

Some examples of each:

The little girl's tooth is loose. She's afraid of losing it if she bites into an apple.

Be careful of what you say around her -- she's got a loose tongue.

I'm going to lose my mind soon with people's loose use of these words.

A little loose copyediting

USA Today posted an AP article about the air sample tests conducted after the North Korean nuclear test: "Samples are rushed back to labs in the United States for study before they loose their radioactive properties."

Hmm, just noticed the same mistake in an SF Gate article. Tsk, tsk.

Flipper: Armed and dangerous?!

"Armed and dangerous - Flipper the firing dolphin let loose by Katrina"

"Armed dolphins, trained by the US military to shoot terrorists and pinpoint spies underwater, may be missing in the Gulf of Mexico."

OK, well maybe not ...
"Dolphin assassins menace Gulf of Mexico"