Don't Loose your Breaks!

Okay, it's pet peeve time. For those of you who failed third grade:

loose: not rigidly fastened or securely attached

lose: to miss from one's possession or from a customary or supposed place

"Loose" is pronounced with a HARD "S" and is NOT a homonym to "lose" which is pronounced with a "Z" sound. The thing that I can't figure out, is do folks pronounce the word "lose" with an "S" sound instead of a "Z" sound? I heard someone call someone a "looser" on a forum once and wondered if he pronounced it like "loo sir" instead of "loo zer"?

brake: something used to slow down or stop movement

break: to separate into parts with suddenness or violence

Here are some examples:

"You might lose your hubcap if it comes loose from your wheel."
"I really like the brakes on my Prius, but not the breaks in my windshield!"

Those of you who are thoroughly confused need to repeat second grade.

All of you who have failed to properly use these four words on this forum are hereby fined 1 point per incident. Donate points to naterprius as restitution.

Nate

 

Next week:

Fewer vs. Less

This one's harder; I hear CNN and commercials screwing this up.

Here it is:
The Prius uses less gasoline and produces fewer emissions.

(If it's plural, it's fewer, otherwise, it's less).

Try it the other way:
The Prius uses fewer gasoline and produces less emissions.

This ought to sound doubly wrong. If "less emissions" sounds fine to you, repeat 6th grade and pay your points penance.

Here's an easy way to know when to use "fewer": Always try it, and if it souds wrong, replace it with "less."

;-)

Nate

Man, it's getting late.

Week 3: How to use a turn signal...

 

This one is almost accepted into common language for political reasons:

"Anyone who swims at this beach without a lifeguard does so at their own risk."

What's wrong? It should be:
"Anyone who swims at this beach without a lifeguard does so at his own risk."

That's grammatically correct, but politically incorrect, so it becomes:
"Anyone who swims at this beach without a lifeguard does so at his or her own risk."

Which is stylistically incorrect, and still places the his before the her, so is still somewhat politically incorrect, all of which is solved with a slight grammar violation:

"Anyone who cares this much about my grammar can go ---- themselves."

:mrgreen:

Nate

 

Hmmm, it seems to be spelled right to me...

;-)

Nate