The Lemon Fool

Disinterested vs. uninterested. The former means impartial, the latter means indifferent.

enormity vs enormousness. The former means extreme wickedness, the latter means extreme size.

GS

Proscribe and prescribe.

To forbid and to recommend

John

Obverse and reverse.

The obverse of something is, er, the same something.

Scott.

Momentarily vs. 'in a moment'.

The former means 'just for a moment' but is often misused when the latter (meaning that the speaker won't make the listener wait for very long) is what is intended.

swill453 wrote:Obverse and reverse.

The obverse of something is, er, the same something.

Scott.

Obverse= front (heads) side of coin, vs Reverse (tails)

redsturgeon wrote:Proscribe and prescribe.

To forbid and to recommend

John

Or alternatively

proscribe = sanction

prescribe = sanction

AleisterCrowley wrote:Obverse= front (heads) side of coin, vs Reverse (tails)

Yes that was my point. People using obverse as if it was a "posh" way of saying reverse.

Scott.

Loose vs Lose
I know. You know. But thousands of people on Facebook and elsewhere seem to have problems with this

AleisterCrowley wrote:Loose vs Lose
I know. You know. But thousands of people on Facebook and elsewhere seem to have problems with this

I do, for one. But I usually take the trouble to do a double check.

Slarti

Principle vs Principal

Slarti wrote:

AleisterCrowley wrote:Loose vs Lose
I know. You know. But thousands of people on Facebook and elsewhere seem to have problems with this

I do, for one. But I usually take the trouble to do a double check.

Slarti

Remember loose rhymes with goose.

John

redsturgeon wrote:Remember loose rhymes with goose.

And lose rhymes with booze, or loos, or flues, or news, but not hose. Obviously.

Scott.

AleisterCrowley wrote:Principle vs Principal

Dependent or Dependant

AleisterCrowley wrote:Loose vs LoseI know. You know. But thousands of people on Facebook and elsewhere seem to have problems with this

That's a little different though. People deliberately say something like "you looser" on the internet for effect. It's not a mistake as such, but rather an intentional misspelling for emphasis. Some women like to refer to themselves as "grrls", as another example. It's not a mistake if it's deliberate.

In fact one can reasonably argue that most rules of spelling and syntax go out of the window on the internet and, particularly, with text and Twitter.

Also note that if a word is used "wrongly" by enough people then it becomes correct by popular usage and acclaim, even to the point where dictionaries have to be changed. Notice how kids use words like "cool", "bad" and "sick" to mean the opposite of what they used to mean. Words change over time and pedants risk being perceived as dated and nitpicky:

http://ideas.ted.com/20-words-that-once ... different/

Again, my children will say "I could care less" when they really mean "I could not care less". Technically wrong, perhaps, and they know that, but if you point that out you get called something worse than "pedant". Peer group pressure is not to be under-estimated.

Lootman wrote:

AleisterCrowley wrote:Loose vs LoseI know. You know. But thousands of people on Facebook and elsewhere seem to have problems with this

That's a little different though. People deliberately say something like "you looser" on the internet for effect. It's not a mistake as such, but rather an intentional misspelling for emphasis.

That may be the case but if you search the Lemon Fool you'll be able to see a number have already misspelt "Lose" unintentionally:

search.php?keywords=loose

Lootman wrote:Notice how kids use words like "cool", "bad" and "sick" to mean the opposite of what they used to mean

Maybe they did in the 20th century but I don't think "bad" is still in use in that way, although I'm happy to be proved wrong.

Similarly, I think "Cool" is now back to the old "Cool", unless I'm being misled!

Lootman wrote:

AleisterCrowley wrote:Loose vs LoseI know. You know. But thousands of people on Facebook and elsewhere seem to have problems with this

That's a little different though. People deliberately say something like "you looser" on the internet for effect. It's not a mistake as such, but rather an intentional misspelling for emphasis. S.

Well, as it's mainly adults (don't think I know anyone on Facebook under 30) I reckon it's genuine mistakes..
"I was worried they'd loose my baggage" etc

And don't get me started on "Should of" and "Could of"

AleisterCrowley wrote:
Loose vs Lose

not

AleisterCrowley wrote:
Loose vs LoseI

Bedtime soon. If I change into the pyjamas with the loose elastic around the waist, I'll probably lose the bottoms. Both lead to the same loss.

There you are. United, but not untied. I'll get me coat.

UncleEbenezer wrote:I'll get me coat.

My coat?