Troublesome Words… Loose and Lose; Flench and Flinch; Clench and Clinch; Shear and Sheer

It might be a problem more or less unique to me, but there are a few words I have struggled for half-a-century to figure out. Topping the list is loose and lose!

Loose and Lose

One means to misplace something. The other means to set free or to make less tight. But which is which, and how can you remember?

Loose means to set free or make less tight. It does not rhyme with choose (the other one does!) So, here's what I came up with:

The moose is loose!

Loose rhymes with moose… and both have two "o"s

Lose means to misplace something. That is to say, to cause something to become lost.

Lose and lost both have four letters. BAM!



Flench and Flinch

Spellcheck will betray you! Both of these are correct spellings of completely different words.

Flinch means to "make a quick, nervous movement."

Flench is an alternative form of flense, meaning to strip the blubber or skin from something, like a whale.

Only one of these will I ever do. I might flinch. Flinch has an "i" in it.



Clench and Clinch

Again, don't rely on spellcheck for this one.

Clench means to squeeze. Clinch means to settle or close a deal (but also to grapple, cuddle, or embrace).

So… this is a stretch… When you eat, you clench your jaw. Eat starts with 'e" an clench has an "e" in it.



Sheer and Shear

One of these is and adjective meaning just barely, nothing other than; or meaning minimally thick or having a minimal margin. The other means to cut something off (like wool from a sheep).

So, sheep are sheared. Lace curtain are sheer.

To sort these out with a gimmick, requires another stretch.

You have to shear around the ear of the lamb! "Ear" and "shear" rhyme and "lamb" and "shear" both have an "a" in them.

A person could win a contest by sheer luck. A cliff is sheer. A person might experience sheer terror or sheer delight (unmitigated).