Lose vs. Loose

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

Loose = not tight (My shoes are loose, for instance)

Lose = not win; no longer have something you had, like

your job, your benefits, your license, your

sanity, the race you are running, etc.

It troubles me that people usually seem to say "loose" when they actually mean "lose".

I am afraid that I am going to start using "loose" instead of "lose", after reading the error so often in others' posts.

Don't read any malice into what I am saying, just accept it for what I said it is. Thanks.

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

Diffuse and defuse are the ones that irritate me. You don't diffuse an escalating situation, you defuse it. You're not trying to spread the situation around, you're trying to reduce the danger or tension in it! ?

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

Ensure vs. insure. Not the same thing! ?

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Effect and affect...

[River&MountainRN, ADN, RN]

Past and passed.

"I stayed past the end of my shift because a patient passed."

[fourthtimesacharm, CRNA]

Elicit and illicit!

[AngelfireRN, MSN, RN, APRN]

You take a breath, or you BREATHE.

You take a bath or you BATHE.

You palpate an abdomen, your heart will cause PALPITATIONS.

If your prostate goes wonky, it can cause you to PROSTRATE yourself on the floor.

And a personal fave, from the marketing company who wanted to 'fix my clinic website' because of the so-called 'HIPPA violations'. I was supremely unprofessional and told the dinklepuss that if he wanted to get ANY business, insulting was not the way to go and if he wanted any MEDICAL business, he'd best learn to use the correct terminology, especially if he was going to claim violation of said term.

[BrisketRN, BSN, RN]

Accept and except. I have to correct myself on that a lot. Accept is an Action.

Desert and dessert. Add an extra s because you always want more. I remember a substitute teacher telling me that in the third grade. It might have nothing to do with nursing...but I like dessert.

Along with HIPAA--add an extra A because it's a pain in the A** (that was from my Foundations of Nursing professor).

[NICUmiiki, DNP, NP]

On 1/9/2019 at 11:48 PM, VivaLasViejas said:

Diffuse and defuse are the ones that irritate me. You don't diffuse an escalating situation, you defuse it. You're not trying to spread the situation around, you're trying to reduce the danger or tension in it! ?

Nah.. you don’t know me. I ?? SPREAD ??DRAMA ??

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

You all have pleasantly surprised me with your responses. I expected to have my head handed to me but you have provided some great examples of commonly confused terms instead. Thanks to all!

[mrf0609]

A big one for me...asked and axed....

There is no x involved in asking someone something...

[NICUmiiki, DNP, NP]

Unfortunately for me, this is how it is commonly pronounced in my area and how I learned to say it as a child. I try to correct it, but axed still comes out about 50% of the time.