Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2018-04-11
There has already been commentary on the site about the prevalence of the spelling error “loose†for “loseâ€.
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A particularly interesting context is that of “loosing your temper†(plenty of ghits out there.) Eggcornishly viewed, instead of failing to keep your temper, you turn it loose as if it were a fierce dog. Some contexts especially seem to favor such an interpretation. E.g.
So you wish to use Rachel as a scapegoat for your guilt do you?†I snarled at him loosing my temper.
I am sure there are people who think “loose your temper†is the right (standard) way to spell it. If we knew there were some of them who also (a) didn’t spell “lose†that way in other contexts, and (b) did think of siccing the temper onto people, setting it loose to attack them, we would have a very nice eggcorn. I don’t know those things, unfortunately.
*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .
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I like David’s suggestion here because it turns the previous thinking on its side. I find it credible that someone might say and mean “loose (one’s) temper”—and that such a construction might be inspired by “lose (one’s) temper” on a subliminal level. I don’t know how we would ever prove that a written version of the same isn’t just a misspelling since identifying the exact context can sometimes be elusive. I wonder if the appending “on” to the string would weight the argument in our favor…
EX® | FacebookIt’s a ME day cause I don’t want to loose my temper on anyone. First the temper then the crying … Read More cause I can’t control it. I can control who I do stuff for though.
www.facebook.com/pages/EXR/61426145801 · Cached page
But this gets tricky because it sounds like a legitimate assembly of words in it’s own right.
Last edited by jorkel (2009-06-15 15:10:01)
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