Lose vs Loose - Why?

Question

No, it's not going to be a rant about people who can't spell...

I'm curious as to why the word "Lose" (which is very commonly used in English) is so frequently misspelled as "Loose" (which is a far less commonly used word and it's longer to boot).

Any ideas to the origin of this? I wonder if there is some underlying cognitive reason for this meme.

They're even pronounced differently...

Answer 1

i would say the mistake is made when people try to spell it in their heads realising there are two similar spellings. lose has a long sounding vowel so they choose(note the ryhme) the latter, loose.

Answer 2

The two words have different meanings. The 'u' sound is often produced in English using the "oo" spelling, while the "o" spelling often produces the sound "ahh". (I would have used International Phonetic transcription but have no idea how to produce it on this computer nor if you would understand it) Given that the number of native people who spell poorly is increasing and the rising number of people trying to get a handle on English as a second language, the frequent misspelling of words is understandable, although deplorable to those who know better. At least in the spoken language the spelling problem doesn't arise. It is the reverse, words spelled the same that are pronounce differently depending upon meaning.

Answer 3

I know you're not going to rant, but I always find it funny. It always makes me giggle when someone's trying to sound tough or angry or something like that on Yahoo and they write "u looser!!" XD

If I had to guess at the answer, though, I would say that it's because I can't think (off the top of my head) of another English word in which there is only one O, and this O is the only vowel in the stressed syllable, in which it is pronounced the way that "lose" is pronounced. So, "lose" is kind of an anomaly; there are few reference words on which to base its spelling. When English speakers hear that sound, they associate it with "oo." I'm sure that similar words must exist, but the fact that I can't think of any might indicate how frequently we use them (so, not very!). My Romanian friend who isn't very good at spelling in English spells "lose" as "loose" all the time: for her it is definitely because she was taught that "oo," spelled with two O's, is the sound of the O in words like "lose."

Part of it, also, is just an indication of people who have never read much and who have never really paid attention to their writing. I have never considered spelling "lose" with two O's, but I read a bit growing up, and I'm not a very bad speller (though I make mistakes from time to time, of course).

Oh, and (at least in American English), only the S is pronounced differently of the two words. The vowel sounds of "lose" and "loose" are pronounced exactly the same.

Answer 4

Usually a single "o" is not pronounced ooooooo, two "oo's" are pronounced oooooooo.

School.
Tool.
Pool.
Fool.

It then makes sense that people mistake loose for lose.

Easy mistake I think.

Answer 5

it all in the way you use the oo