Is "Loose weight" true?

Status
Not open for further replies.

menueditor

Member
Joined
May 27, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Hong Kong
Current Location
Hong Kong
I know "reduce fat" means "lose weight", but counld I said "loose weight"?

thanks.
 

5jj

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 14, 2010
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
Czech Republic
Current Location
Czech Republic

emka

Junior Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2011
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
German
Home Country
Germany
Current Location
Germany
Not a teacher

Loose - with two "o" means "not attached", but if you slim down, i.e. if you lose weight, you get rid of fat attached to your waist or wherever.
Your pants will be loose around your waist afterwards, though.;-)
 

menueditor

Member
Joined
May 27, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Hong Kong
Current Location
Hong Kong
Not a teacher

Loose - with two "o" means "not attached", but if you slim down, i.e. if you lose weight, you get rid of fat attached to your waist or wherever.
Your pants will be loose around your waist afterwards, though.;-)

that's funny, it made me more easy to remember.
 

Tdol

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
It's a very common spelling mistake- the internet is full of people calling other people [strike]loosers[/strike] when they mean losers.
 

BobK

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 29, 2006
Location
Spencers Wood, near Reading, UK
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
The problem seems to be the two non-pairs 'loose/lose' and 'choose/chose' In the first pair, the vowel stays the same (the same phoneme, that is) and the voicing of the fricative changes. In the second pair the voicing of the fricative remains unchanged, but the vowels are different. The spellings suggest they should be similar. The typo reinforces that. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the 2100 edition of a reputable dictionary agrees with the typo, and notes that a few users (especially those born before the turn of the 20th centiury) preserve the old anomalous spelling - just as there are still a few people who spell 'show' 'shew'. ;-)

b
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top