Looking at Loose and Lose

I get rather frustrated when I see regular bloggers, or VAs chatting on forums, using the wrong word or spelling incorrectly. Particularly those who otherwise have great writing skills.

Granted there are different spellings for words depending on what country you live in and which version of English you use. And I was beginning to think that perhaps the word ‘loose’ meant the same as ‘lose’ in some English speaking countries because I see it used so often.

I had to go look up the Merriam-Webster Dictionary online and back it up with other dictionary searches. But my understanding of the meaning of ‘loose’ is the same as their’s – something that is lacking, unrestrained, not holding on tight or bound together, something is on the loose, freely roaming, permitting freedom of interpretation (except interpretation of the spelling of the word we’re discussing) and so on.

‘Lose’, on the other hand, means something that can be lost, if you lose something you cannot find it – it is gone. You suffer loss, leave behind, fail to catch sense of (she lost the meaning of) and so on.

So, why is it I see very frequently on discussion forums and in blogs incorrect usage of this word? Is it just a slip up and people don’t proofread or do they really believe they’ve chosen the correct word? Or, am I out of touch and the meaning has changed? In which case the dictionaries need updating too.

loose or lose?, correct spelling, version of English, blogging, virtual assistants