Archive for From The Teacher’s Desk

Welcome to this edition of From the Teacher’s Desk!  Words are wonderful tools, but sometimes we use those tools incorrectly.   For the next several weeks, I will be covering some of the most common misused words in the English language.  My hope is that we can teach our students the correct way to use them and empower them.  Today we are going to discuss the differences between the words Lose and Loose.  Many people use these interchangeably and that is just wrong! These words mean two entirely different things.  Hopefully I can help you straighten out your students today.  Below you will find the nitty gritty of the Lose vs. Loose debate:

Lose vs. Loose

lose – To be deprived of or cease to have; to cause someone to fail to gain or retain something.

Incorrect: Loose weight in 5 weeks or loose your chance to go to the beach!
Correct: Lose weight in 5 weeks or lose your chance to go to the beach!

loose – Not firmly or tightly fixed in place; to release or set free.

Incorrect: The dog’s collar was lose, so Bob tightened it before the dog got lose.
Correct: The dog’s collar was loose, so Bob tightened it before the dog got loose.

Are these words that have been used incorrectly in your homeschool?  What are some others you are hoping I will cover?  Leave me a comment and let me know what words are driving you batty!  Be sure to visit me next week for another set of commonly misused words.

Sep
20

Grammar Peeves

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My husband sent me the following in an email, and I just had to share it with you.  It was something definitely up my alley.  These are some of the pet peeves I have when it comes to grammar.  Enjoy!

Irregardless, their are probably time’s when I am a looser and I literally could care less that I break some of these rules. It’s affect is nonplussed. Your welcome.

Did you just cringe like me?  LOL!

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This piece was originally published on my writing blog.  But I thought it would be a good introduction to my new feature…From The Teacher’s Desk.  I plan to take on all of the many grammatical mistakes and share the way words are supposed to be used.  I hope you enjoy it.

Ok, I’ll admit it. I’m a sign reader. I am one of those people that as they drive around they find all of the grammatical and spelling mistakes on the business signs around town. I’ve done it for years and I don’t see an end to it anytime in the near future. I don’t get paid for this, but I can’t seem to stop myself from mentally correcting the offending mistakes that I see all around me everyday. Perhaps it is the editor in me.

I think that what really drives me crazy is when I see spelling and grammatical mistakes in published pieces. It is one thing to roll your eyes at a sign when you drive by, and an entirely different matter to find it done by another professional in your line of work. It makes me cringe. It is like fingernails scraping across a chalkboard. These are people who should know better.

When it comes to bad grammar, I’ve seen it all. And I don’t mean that I’ve seen it all because I’m a mom to an almost teenager. These are mistakes made by people I consider colleagues in the writing world. The incorrect uses of then and than or accept and except. The misuse of lose and loose. (C’mon people, it’s lose weight, not loose weight.) The incorrect use of edition for addition or affect for effect and vice versa. I could go on and on and on. And lest you think these are all by the same person, think again. There are several guilty offenders, although there are some who have made multiple offenses.

Now, while I am not meaning to be the grammar police, I do think that it would behoove us as writers to be very sure of what we publish. When we make mistakes such as the ones I have listed, we lose credibility. Once that is lost, it is difficult to get it back.

I know I am not perfect, nor do I pretend to be…except with my son. But this is an issue that we need to perhaps take just a little more seriously as professional writers.

Oh, my favorite mistake this past week? C’mon…laugh with me…Wendsday for Wednesday. What are some of your favorites?

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