Pet. Peeve.

After having seen this error on message boards just one too many times, I need to let the English major in me loose:

One does not, under most circumstances, "loose" a game. It could be said that on occasion a company might "loose" a game, as in "man, WOTC really killed the RPG industry when they loosed M:TG on the public back in 93," but that is an. Entirely. Different. Meaning.

The word being sought after is "lose." You lose a game. The antonym of "lose" is "win." The antonym of "loose" is "tight."

Similarly, if you lose a game (or, for that matter, if you chronically misspell words), that makes you a loser, not a looser. "Looser" is what my ex-girlfriend got when she broke up with me and started gang-banging frat boys, the whore.

Let's recap with our friend Mr. Dictionary:

los�er (lū'zər)
n.

1. One that fails to win: the losers of the game.
2. One who takes loss in a specified way: a graceful loser; a poor loser.
3. One that fails consistently, especially a person with bad luck or poor skills: "losers at home seeking wealth and glory in undeveloped countries" (Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.).
4. One that is bad in quality: That book is a real loser.

loose (lūs)
adj., loos�er, loos�est.

1. Not fastened, restrained, or contained: loose bricks.
2. Not taut, fixed, or rigid: a loose anchor line; a loose chair leg.
3. Free from confinement or imprisonment; unfettered: criminals loose in the neighborhood; dogs that are loose on the streets.
4. Not tight-fitting or tightly fitted: loose shoes.
5. Not bound, bundled, stapled, or gathered together: loose papers.
6. Not compact or dense in arrangement or structure: loose gravel.
7. Lacking a sense of restraint or responsibility; idle: loose talk.
8. Not formal; relaxed: a loose atmosphere at the club.
9. Lacking conventional moral restraint in sexual behavior: a loose woman.
10. Not literal or exact: a loose translation.
11. Characterized by a free movement of fluids in the body: a loose cough; loose bowels.