We often get confused about the spelling of Loose versus Lose. Both are sound alikes. Creates a lot of Confusion and can lead to a Medical Error. Here is the Crack.
LOOSE: Not Tight. Just imagine a person wearing a pant which is LOOSE fit. As if , his legs are like the two O O in the pant in a cross-section view... and visualize two legs in a pant, L O O SE, where L SE are the pants.
For example: Patient is having loose stools (not tight).
-------- -------- -------- ----------
LOSE: Cease to have, Missing, Losing. Here just imagine that LOOSE has lost one O from it. Loose is missing one O from its OO. --- MISSING O from it, lost one O.
For Example: Patient is to lose weight (i.e., patient is to miss/subtract/reduce some weight).
BOTTOM LINE:
LOOSE: Not Tight.
LOSE: Lost / Missing something ==> Missing a O from the spelling -- Lost an O.
Arup Ghosh, BSC, BASM Senior Quality Analyst Medical Transcription
