“So tired of rich people forking over $6k to cry at #TED for 3 days a year. Their so moved but their just their to do business networking.”

This was actually tweeted on Sunday by someone who has almost 95,000 people that follow their updates on Twitter. Unbelievable! He’s zero for three in using the correct word in the same sentence. Obviously this guy doesn’t like TED (www.TED.com). However, while trying to bash/scorn TED members, he has made himself look ridiculous in the process.

So, in keeping with the short and sweet theme that I started in my “Lose and Loose” post, here’s a simple way to keep yourself out of the “I’m attempting to be cool with my tweet, but in reality I just made myself look really stupid” club:

Their – possessive case of they. Their time. Their organization. Their money to spend on the TED conference if they so desire.

They’re – a CONTRACTION which means They are. They’re going to the TED conference and will spend some of their money.

There – a place. Not here, but there. They are going there for the TED conference where they’re probably going to spend some of their money.

Here’s how his tweet should have looked: “So tired of rich people forking over $6k to cry at #TED for 3 days a year. They’re so moved but they’re just there to do business networking.”

I understand that we all make mistakes and really, I’m okay with it. However, if you’re going to fire off a tweet dripping with a little venom like this one and you know it is going to be read by tens of thousands of people, it would probably be a good idea to double check what you’ve written before you hit the ‘Update’ button.

I keep seeing these two words being used incorrectly and it’s frustrating! Lose and loose aren’t even homophones (two or more words pronounced alike, yet are different in spelling, derivation, or meaning such as their, there, and they’re).

So, just for the record, here are two quick definitions for lose and loose.

Lose – to not win, to misplace something

Loose – the opposite of tight

I just wanted to put that out there. With such a drastic increase in the use of social media by people everywhere, it’s important to LOOK at what you are typing and make sure it accurately reflects the message you are trying to convey!

This is a good resource for writers. While the focus of PlainLanguage.gov is on “Improving Communication from the Federal Government to the Public”, it still contains many helpful guidelines and resources. In order to give you a better idea of what “Plain Language” is, here is the description given on their website:

While I certainly do not agree with George Orwell on politics, religion, and many other issues, I do appreciate his tips on writing well. He was a passionate defender of good writing. Here are some of Orwell’s more famous writing tips.

A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will ask himself at least four questions, thus:

1. What am I trying to say?
2. What words will express it?
3. What image or idiom will make it clearer?
4. Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?

And he will probably ask himself two more:

1. Could I put it more shortly?
2. Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly?

One can often be in doubt about the effect of a word or a phrase, and one needs rules that one can rely on when instinct fails. I think the following rules will cover most cases:

1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

* From Orwell’s essay “Politics and the English Language”