A Lesson

So, I've been thinking about this for a few days, and decided to write a post about grammar...or rather the lack thereof in our technological world. The bad punctuation skills don't really bother me, for the most part. I admit that I am in the wrong too when it comes to that, but there are some words that get used incorrectly so often, that it just bugs me! Granted, sometimes it's just a accidental error, but sometimes, I just wonder...

Loose or lose? You wouldn't think these would be hard words to confuse, but people do it, ALL THE TIME. My favorite misuse of these words.... I am going to 'loose' a lot of weight. Really? So, here's a good way to think of it. Loose is with an 's' sound like snake, lose is more of a 'z' sound. You are going to lose weight. When you lose weight your clothes will become loose.

I guess if it helps you could think of the definitions... loose: not bound together, free from anything that binds or restrains. Lose: to come to be without...

Also, one is an action the other isn't. Lose, is an action/verb, loose, is an adjective. You can't loose something. You can loosen something, but you can't loose it. You LOSE it.

There are other words, but the main ones I wanted to focus on in this post, until I got distracted by loose and lose, are the words to, too, and two. People confuse these a lot! In some aspects, I can see why, but still...

Let's strike out two. I mean, it's a number. I hope that people at least know not to use this word unless they are referring to the number two, unless their brain isn't working right that day for some reason. (I have days like that, I can totally understand..)

That being said, let's move on...

The short easy way to think of these words... one refers to a type of action, the other is in addition. To is a word that describes direction or motion or time. I'm going TO the store at a quarter TO five. Too is a word that you use to describe more or addition. I want to go TOO. She was TOO angry (she wasn't just angry, she was TOO angry) to stay calm. See, to is action, too is more. I always think, in addition... They have TOO many bills.

So, I saw a sign that said, "It's not to late to sign up." It should have said, "It's not TOO late to sign up."

Clear as mud?