1. toc1000

    toc1000 New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2012
    Messages:
    10
    Likes Received:
    0

    2 grammar questions - how conjugate verb in participle phrase

    Discussion in 'Word Mechanics' started by toc1000, Apr 4, 2012.

    Can anyone explain why the writer chose the word "lose" instead of "loss" in the following sentence? - from an NBA fan site. I've had the question about such sentences for awhile, and did not find the answer in any grammar book.

    "WOW, I never saw that many Lebron haters around there after this lose without Lebron playing."



    And same for the following sentence - why "chronicle" instead of "chronic"?

    "Actually, I think it's a good sign that they let Rose rest. Rose is young and just started, we don't want him to have chronicle issues with his knee."


    Thanks to anyone who can explain the subtlety!
     
  2. Mckk

    Mckk Member Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    Dec 30, 2010
    Messages:
    6,541
    Likes Received:
    4,776
    Lose is a verb - you lose your pen, you lose a match. Loss is a noun - Jane can't cope with the loss of her husband.

    As for chronic and chronicle - according to the OED:

    Chronic - adjective

    1(of an illness) persisting for a long time or constantly recurring:
    chronic bronchitis
    Often contrasted with acute.

    (of a person) having a chronic illness:
    a chronic asthmatic

    (of a problem) long-lasting:
    the school suffers from chronic overcrowding

    (of a person) having a bad habit:
    a chronic liar

    Chronicle

    noun
    a factual written account of important or historical events in the order of their occurrence:
    - a vast chronicle of Spanish history
    - the rebels' demands for personal freedom are conspicuous in the chronicles
    - a fictitious or factual work describing a series of events:
    - a chronicle of his life during the war years

    verb - [with object]
    record (a series of events) in a factual and detailed way:
    his work chronicles 20th-century migration

    All four of these are different words. I don't know why you were looking at a grammar book at all. Try a dictionary!
     
  3. Erato

    Erato New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 23, 2012
    Messages:
    293
    Likes Received:
    9
    Location:
    A place called home
    ^Exactly.
     
  4. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

    Joined:
    Nov 21, 2006
    Messages:
    19,150
    Likes Received:
    1,034
    Location:
    Coquille, Oregon
    the use of 'lose' as a noun is common 'sport-speak'... the opposite of 'a win'...

    the use of 'chronicle' for 'chronic' is simply a typo, or a glaring goof by a writer with poor writing skills...
     
  5. toc1000

    toc1000 New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2012
    Messages:
    10
    Likes Received:
    0
    Yeah, I know they're different parts of speech, duh.

    My question is, to repeat: Why does their rendition sound so right? And which is grammatically correct?

    P.S. - I'm looking for the grammatical rule that is operative.

    @mammamaia: The use of "chronicle" was an effective choice of word, not a typo.
     
  6. superpsycho

    superpsycho New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 28, 2012
    Messages:
    637
    Likes Received:
    12
    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    I suspect it's a mistake, A case of the brain saying one thing and the hands doing another. It happens to me all the time.
     
  7. art

    art Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Sep 5, 2010
    Messages:
    1,153
    Likes Received:
    117
    1- Take a look at your keyboard. Attend to e's propinquity to s.

    2- He perhaps meant to write chronical, which would be legitimate (but antiquated).
     
  8. toc1000

    toc1000 New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2012
    Messages:
    10
    Likes Received:
    0
    You'll notice that the sentences *actually read better* with "lose" and "chronicle", respectively.

    And I've seen many better writers apply the same mysterious rule.
     
  9. Erato

    Erato New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 23, 2012
    Messages:
    293
    Likes Received:
    9
    Location:
    A place called home
    I wouldn't have thought so. I believe that this is against grammatical rules. Why it's written this way I don't know; it's either ignorance or a typo or both.
     
    toc1000 likes this.
  10. art

    art Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Sep 5, 2010
    Messages:
    1,153
    Likes Received:
    117
    Well, I prefer (the sound of) chronical to chronic there, but don't agree that lose sounds better (than loss).

    I would like it if you could find examples of significant authors deploying this device.
     
    toc1000 likes this.
  11. digitig

    digitig Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2010
    Messages:
    2,490
    Likes Received:
    81
    Location:
    Orpington, Bromley, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
    This is clearly an obscure meaning of "better" that means "worse". Something like the way "bad" meant "good" in the 1980s.
     
    toc1000 likes this.
  12. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    May 19, 2007
    Messages:
    36,161
    Likes Received:
    2,827
    Location:
    Massachusetts, USA
    Short answer - the writer blew it on both counts. Neither usage is correct English.
     
    toc1000 likes this.
  13. digitig

    digitig Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2010
    Messages:
    2,490
    Likes Received:
    81
    Location:
    Orpington, Bromley, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
    As Mamma points out, "lose" in that sense is common slang use, and so is reasonable in an informal context. "Chronicle" seems to be simply a Malapropism.
     
    toc1000 likes this.
  14. minstrel

    minstrel Leader of the Insquirrelgency Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    Jul 11, 2010
    Messages:
    10,742
    Likes Received:
    9,991
    Location:
    Near Sedro Woolley, Washington
    I'm a sports fan (not basketball, though), and I've never heard the word "lose" in that sense. It's not on ESPN, anyway, and I regard it as incorrect usage.

    "Chronicle" is just wrong.

    Toc1000, neither sentence reads better the way you have them. They read better with "loss" and "chronic" respectively. And they'd be grammatically correct.
     
    toc1000 likes this.
  15. MVP

    MVP Member

    Joined:
    Apr 17, 2011
    Messages:
    97
    Likes Received:
    6
    That is a sentence that has been typed exactly the way someone would say it. They way people speak English is usually grammatically incorrect compared to the written word-(and even the written word can be far reaching). What 'sounds' correct when read or spoken, does not mean it is executed properly. Slang is everywhere. As far as grammar accuracy of that sentence, the whole thing is a piece of crap.

    They meant chronic. Its a term to describe a medical condition in opposition to acute.
     
    toc1000 likes this.
  16. lorilee

    lorilee New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 9, 2012
    Messages:
    45
    Likes Received:
    2
    Location:
    Canada
    no subtlety there, just the wrong word on both counts. LOSE the verb instead of LOSS the noun and CHRONICLE the noun instead of CHRONIC the adjective. At least lose and loss have similar meaning, chronic and chronicle don't even come close. As toc1000 said, they're just different words (or maybe those writers wood say their different words LOL)
     
    toc1000 likes this.
  17. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

    Joined:
    Nov 21, 2006
    Messages:
    19,150
    Likes Received:
    1,034
    Location:
    Coquille, Oregon
    sorry, but that makes no sense whatsoever... there is no meaning of the word 'chronicle' that can possibly apply to an injury, in an adjectival or qualifying sense... so how on earth can it be an 'effective choice'?

    and i said it was 'either a typo, or a glaring goof'...
     
  18. madhoca

    madhoca Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Dec 1, 2008
    Messages:
    2,604
    Likes Received:
    151
    Location:
    the shadow of the velvet fortress
    Actually, it could have been a typo. A typo that was auto-corrected on Word's spell and grammar check.
    e.g. the writer typed 'chronicv', which was a slip of the finger on the keyboard to hit the neighbouring key (I do that frequently when I'm in a frenzy). It was flagged, and the suggestion 'chronical' appeared. Sloppy editing. The writer must have meant 'chronic' because it's the only possible word here, 'chronicle' makes the sentence complete nonsense.

    Come on guys, surely we can agree that 'a lose' is slang only. We talk about companies making 'a loss', for example, not 'a lose'. But I can well believe it's used in sports vocab.
     
  19. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

    Joined:
    Nov 21, 2006
    Messages:
    19,150
    Likes Received:
    1,034
    Location:
    Coquille, Oregon
    sportscasters have been using it thus for as long as i've been hearing it, at least [close to 7 decades!]... ask vin scully, red barber, curt gowdy, or howard cosell what a 'lose' is and they'll be glad to explain it to you... or would, if all but vin weren't now calling the plays up in that great ballfield in the sky...
     
  20. toc1000

    toc1000 New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2012
    Messages:
    10
    Likes Received:
    0
    In hindsight, what struck me about the sentence is, it really reads:

    "We wouldn't want him to have one of those injury-plagued careers, with a never-ending list of injuries." Rather than:

    "His knee is at risk of a chronic condition."

    Emphasis on 'career' rather than 'injury'.
     
  21. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

    Joined:
    Nov 21, 2006
    Messages:
    19,150
    Likes Received:
    1,034
    Location:
    Coquille, Oregon
    i disagree, toc, since the emphasis in the sentence was clearly only on the knee injury, not a 'never-ending list' and damage to a knee will most often become 'chronic'... meaning he'll often be sidelined when it 'goes out'...
     

Share This Page

  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
    Dismiss Notice