Editing Tip of the Day: Lose or Loose?

English is full of words that are almost spelled the same and almost sound the same, unfortunately for English-speaking writers. One pair that confuses many writers is "loose" and "lose." Hopefully after today's quick tip, you won't be confused any more.

There are two handy mnemonic devices for remembering that loose has two Os in it:
Remember the kid's story of Chicken Licken, Henny Penny, and Loosey Goosey.
(The one where the chicken thinks the sky is falling when an acorn falls on its head.)
Because "loose" rhymes with "goose" and "moose" and they all end in -oose.
The second trick is:
Loose means something fitting loosely or having more space, so it has extra OOs--more space.

Sadly, I don't have any stand-alone memory tricks for "lose," but I do like this one, paired with the ones above:
If your pants are loose, you might lose them.

Now get back to editing, and don't lose hope!