[BigTex]

I see this everywhere. I think people mean to say "losing", but they spell it "loosing."

How did this happen?

Is loosing some new word I don't know about?

[Schadenfreude]

There have been threads on this before.

"Loosing" is a really common spelling mistake that sticks out like a sore thumb to me. I hate it.

I don't like "definately" either. It irks. I don't mind the occasional spelling error, I just hate seeing the same ones over and over again.

But, you know, I took to reading, writing, grammar, spelling and all that like a duck to water at a very young age. Anything verbal was as easy for me to master as rolling off a log. I am the exact opposite of dyslexic.

But I've had to work for business geniuses that couldn't write or spell their own names. And I'm definitely not a business genius.

[gnm]

Sometimes you may see this and other creative mis-spellings from non native English speakers. No big deal.

When you see this from native English speakers it is evidence that the dumbing down of Americas schools is working well.

-G

[Flowerr]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('BigTex', 'I') see this everywhere. I think people mean to say "losing", but they spell it "loosing."

How did this happen?

Is loosing some new word I don't know about?

[TWilliam]

It does get annoying when you see the same mistake endlessly. Another one is "dept", which is an abbreviation of the word "department", when what is meant is debt, a financial obligation.

Incidentally, "loosing" is a legitimate word, the verb form of loose, seen in phrases such as "loosing the hounds of hell" or "the archers began loosing their arrows". I don't think it's used much in modern idiom tho', except when misused in place of losing, as in "losing my religion"...

[smallpoxgirl]

I'm sorry. You loosed me with this thread.

[lawnchair]

Loosing is indeed a word, but a proper use of it is extremely rare. One example would be "McCain called for loosing the dogs of war".

[Last_Laff]

And I see the spelling for then and than; one is bigger then another - really annoy me. Makes me think what did I deserve to graduate!?

I am better THAN all of YOU!

[BigTex]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Flowerr', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('BigTex', 'I') see this everywhere. I think people mean to say "losing", but they spell it "loosing."

How did this happen?

Is loosing some new word I don't know about?

[killJOY]

English spelling ("orthography") is pathological.

Losing takes a hosing in the spelling department, so choosing to spell it loosing seems natural.

[I_Like_Plants]

OK I'm guilty of "definately" myself.

There's a web page I greatly admire, where the guy's given up on spelling "values" and instead components come in various "vaules". I know the feeling. After a while you just decide, Fuck it, I can't spell this, and this is how I am spelling it.

Kinda lazy though because you can type any word into Google and it will spit out the correct spelling.

[killJOY]

My students often spell it "defiantely"!

ugh!

then there's "eachother" as one word, like "inspite of."

[evilgenius]

I find I can live with the mistakes people make. I wasn't always able to, however. The bottom line, I figure, is: can you communicate? I think a person can be always correct and fail at communication. That is rare, but it does happen. I think it usually comes when the person seeking to communicate doesn't do so with their audience in mind. The same principle applies to those that constantly mis-spell. If you are too lazy to check your own work then you probably don't care so much about communicating with your audience as about blowing your own ego horn. Communication entails a certain amount of compromise. Slacking off on insisting that everyone else uses proper English is a compromise and so is bothering to look things up now and again.

How many people out there have a problem because of the speed that you have to communicate at on a board like this? How many (me) have problems because their laptop keyboards are too small for their hands?

[dinopello]

We are becoming looser in our adherence to grammatical and spelling standards. I make mistakes all the time, but I am curious and ask what the correct useage is when I am unsure. What gets me is when people don't care a bit about it. My ex was a linguist, so she used to keep me in line. It was annoying but I did actually appreciate it.

[killJOY]

Did you know "o-u-g-h" has SIX pronunciations???

tough "uff"

though "oh"

thought "awt"

through "oo"

trough "off"

bough "ow"

Ough! You may pull your hair out now.

[BigTex]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dinopello', 'W')e are becoming looser in our adherence to grammatical and spelling standards. I make mistakes all the time, but I am curious and ask what the correct useage is when I am unsure. What gets me is when people don't care a bit about it. My ex was a linguist, so she used to keep me in line. It was annoying but I did actually appreciate it.

[BigTex]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('I_Like_Plants', 'O')K I'm guilty of "definately" myself.

There's a web page I greatly admire, where the guy's given up on spelling "values" and instead components come in various "vaules". I know the feeling. After a while you just decide, Fuck it, I can't spell this, and this is how I am spelling it.

Kinda lazy though because you can type any word into Google and it will spit out the correct spelling.

[CrudeAwakening]

I suspect that misspellings like this are a product of the internet age we live in - someone somewhere spelt 'losing' as 'loosing' and it caught on in a viral sort of way, and now everyone's doing it, or so it seems.

If people read more books, and fewer blogs, I think we'd all spell a little better.

[smallpoxgirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('CrudeAwakening', 'I') suspect that misspellings like this are a product of the internet age we live in - someone somewhere spelt 'losing' as 'loosing' and it caught on in a viral sort of way, and now everyone's doing it, or so it seems.

[Flowerr]

Well, it used to be typewriters and NO ONE wanted to get the correction fluid out, now it dunt matter, Kuptain.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('killJOY', 'E')nglish spelling ("orthography") is pathological.

Losing takes a hosing in the spelling department, so choosing to spell it loosing seems natural.