What does “he is no loss!” mean?












10















“The moment that - that thing entered the room,” she screamed, pointing at Fudge, trembling all over, “it swooped down on Crouch and - and -”



Harry felt a chill in his stomach as Professor McGonagall struggled to
find words to describe what had happened. He did not need her to
finish her sentence. He knew what the dementor must have done. It had
administered its fatal kiss to Barty Crouch. It had sucked his soul
out through his mouth. He was worse than dead.



“By all accounts, he is no loss!” blustered Fudge. “It seems he has
been responsible for several deaths'.”



“But he cannot now give testimony, Cornelius,” said Dumbledore.




I guess he is no loss! probably means he is useless. But I'm not sure if my understanding is correct. What does it mean exactly?










share|improve this question





























    10















    “The moment that - that thing entered the room,” she screamed, pointing at Fudge, trembling all over, “it swooped down on Crouch and - and -”



    Harry felt a chill in his stomach as Professor McGonagall struggled to
    find words to describe what had happened. He did not need her to
    finish her sentence. He knew what the dementor must have done. It had
    administered its fatal kiss to Barty Crouch. It had sucked his soul
    out through his mouth. He was worse than dead.



    “By all accounts, he is no loss!” blustered Fudge. “It seems he has
    been responsible for several deaths'.”



    “But he cannot now give testimony, Cornelius,” said Dumbledore.




    I guess he is no loss! probably means he is useless. But I'm not sure if my understanding is correct. What does it mean exactly?










    share|improve this question



























      10












      10








      10


      1






      “The moment that - that thing entered the room,” she screamed, pointing at Fudge, trembling all over, “it swooped down on Crouch and - and -”



      Harry felt a chill in his stomach as Professor McGonagall struggled to
      find words to describe what had happened. He did not need her to
      finish her sentence. He knew what the dementor must have done. It had
      administered its fatal kiss to Barty Crouch. It had sucked his soul
      out through his mouth. He was worse than dead.



      “By all accounts, he is no loss!” blustered Fudge. “It seems he has
      been responsible for several deaths'.”



      “But he cannot now give testimony, Cornelius,” said Dumbledore.




      I guess he is no loss! probably means he is useless. But I'm not sure if my understanding is correct. What does it mean exactly?










      share|improve this question
















      “The moment that - that thing entered the room,” she screamed, pointing at Fudge, trembling all over, “it swooped down on Crouch and - and -”



      Harry felt a chill in his stomach as Professor McGonagall struggled to
      find words to describe what had happened. He did not need her to
      finish her sentence. He knew what the dementor must have done. It had
      administered its fatal kiss to Barty Crouch. It had sucked his soul
      out through his mouth. He was worse than dead.



      “By all accounts, he is no loss!” blustered Fudge. “It seems he has
      been responsible for several deaths'.”



      “But he cannot now give testimony, Cornelius,” said Dumbledore.




      I guess he is no loss! probably means he is useless. But I'm not sure if my understanding is correct. What does it mean exactly?







      meaning-in-context






      share|improve this question















      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question








      edited Jan 1 at 5:56









      Peter Mortensen

      26528




      26528










      asked Dec 31 '18 at 11:19









      dan

      4,75722569




      4,75722569






















          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          19














          You're right. Literally it is saying "losing him is not a loss, i.e. not losing anything of value".






          share|improve this answer

















          • 3




            Yep I find Rowling's phrasing a bit weird here. I would not say "he is no loss" but rather talk about how the death was no loss. Maybe that's just me.
            – Lightness Races in Orbit
            Dec 31 '18 at 14:36






          • 2




            Maybe, @LightnessRacesinOrbit: it seems fine to me. In the British National Corpus, only one of the ten instances of "no great loss" is predicated of a person.
            – Colin Fine
            Dec 31 '18 at 15:36






          • 1




            It's just metonymic, @Lightness. In this context I take "he is no loss" to mean "his debilitation represents no loss".
            – Gary Botnovcan
            Dec 31 '18 at 16:46






          • 2




            @GaryBotnovcan I get what it means and how it's formed, it just doesn't seem like a common usage to me. But then of course my sample size is relatively low.
            – Lightness Races in Orbit
            Dec 31 '18 at 16:55













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          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes








          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes









          active

          oldest

          votes






          active

          oldest

          votes









          19














          You're right. Literally it is saying "losing him is not a loss, i.e. not losing anything of value".






          share|improve this answer

















          • 3




            Yep I find Rowling's phrasing a bit weird here. I would not say "he is no loss" but rather talk about how the death was no loss. Maybe that's just me.
            – Lightness Races in Orbit
            Dec 31 '18 at 14:36






          • 2




            Maybe, @LightnessRacesinOrbit: it seems fine to me. In the British National Corpus, only one of the ten instances of "no great loss" is predicated of a person.
            – Colin Fine
            Dec 31 '18 at 15:36






          • 1




            It's just metonymic, @Lightness. In this context I take "he is no loss" to mean "his debilitation represents no loss".
            – Gary Botnovcan
            Dec 31 '18 at 16:46






          • 2




            @GaryBotnovcan I get what it means and how it's formed, it just doesn't seem like a common usage to me. But then of course my sample size is relatively low.
            – Lightness Races in Orbit
            Dec 31 '18 at 16:55


















          19














          You're right. Literally it is saying "losing him is not a loss, i.e. not losing anything of value".






          share|improve this answer

















          • 3




            Yep I find Rowling's phrasing a bit weird here. I would not say "he is no loss" but rather talk about how the death was no loss. Maybe that's just me.
            – Lightness Races in Orbit
            Dec 31 '18 at 14:36






          • 2




            Maybe, @LightnessRacesinOrbit: it seems fine to me. In the British National Corpus, only one of the ten instances of "no great loss" is predicated of a person.
            – Colin Fine
            Dec 31 '18 at 15:36






          • 1




            It's just metonymic, @Lightness. In this context I take "he is no loss" to mean "his debilitation represents no loss".
            – Gary Botnovcan
            Dec 31 '18 at 16:46






          • 2




            @GaryBotnovcan I get what it means and how it's formed, it just doesn't seem like a common usage to me. But then of course my sample size is relatively low.
            – Lightness Races in Orbit
            Dec 31 '18 at 16:55
















          19












          19








          19






          You're right. Literally it is saying "losing him is not a loss, i.e. not losing anything of value".






          share|improve this answer












          You're right. Literally it is saying "losing him is not a loss, i.e. not losing anything of value".







          share|improve this answer












          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer










          answered Dec 31 '18 at 11:22









          Colin Fine

          28.4k24155




          28.4k24155








          • 3




            Yep I find Rowling's phrasing a bit weird here. I would not say "he is no loss" but rather talk about how the death was no loss. Maybe that's just me.
            – Lightness Races in Orbit
            Dec 31 '18 at 14:36






          • 2




            Maybe, @LightnessRacesinOrbit: it seems fine to me. In the British National Corpus, only one of the ten instances of "no great loss" is predicated of a person.
            – Colin Fine
            Dec 31 '18 at 15:36






          • 1




            It's just metonymic, @Lightness. In this context I take "he is no loss" to mean "his debilitation represents no loss".
            – Gary Botnovcan
            Dec 31 '18 at 16:46






          • 2




            @GaryBotnovcan I get what it means and how it's formed, it just doesn't seem like a common usage to me. But then of course my sample size is relatively low.
            – Lightness Races in Orbit
            Dec 31 '18 at 16:55
















          • 3




            Yep I find Rowling's phrasing a bit weird here. I would not say "he is no loss" but rather talk about how the death was no loss. Maybe that's just me.
            – Lightness Races in Orbit
            Dec 31 '18 at 14:36






          • 2




            Maybe, @LightnessRacesinOrbit: it seems fine to me. In the British National Corpus, only one of the ten instances of "no great loss" is predicated of a person.
            – Colin Fine
            Dec 31 '18 at 15:36






          • 1




            It's just metonymic, @Lightness. In this context I take "he is no loss" to mean "his debilitation represents no loss".
            – Gary Botnovcan
            Dec 31 '18 at 16:46






          • 2




            @GaryBotnovcan I get what it means and how it's formed, it just doesn't seem like a common usage to me. But then of course my sample size is relatively low.
            – Lightness Races in Orbit
            Dec 31 '18 at 16:55










          3




          3




          Yep I find Rowling's phrasing a bit weird here. I would not say "he is no loss" but rather talk about how the death was no loss. Maybe that's just me.
          – Lightness Races in Orbit
          Dec 31 '18 at 14:36




          Yep I find Rowling's phrasing a bit weird here. I would not say "he is no loss" but rather talk about how the death was no loss. Maybe that's just me.
          – Lightness Races in Orbit
          Dec 31 '18 at 14:36




          2




          2




          Maybe, @LightnessRacesinOrbit: it seems fine to me. In the British National Corpus, only one of the ten instances of "no great loss" is predicated of a person.
          – Colin Fine
          Dec 31 '18 at 15:36




          Maybe, @LightnessRacesinOrbit: it seems fine to me. In the British National Corpus, only one of the ten instances of "no great loss" is predicated of a person.
          – Colin Fine
          Dec 31 '18 at 15:36




          1




          1




          It's just metonymic, @Lightness. In this context I take "he is no loss" to mean "his debilitation represents no loss".
          – Gary Botnovcan
          Dec 31 '18 at 16:46




          It's just metonymic, @Lightness. In this context I take "he is no loss" to mean "his debilitation represents no loss".
          – Gary Botnovcan
          Dec 31 '18 at 16:46




          2




          2




          @GaryBotnovcan I get what it means and how it's formed, it just doesn't seem like a common usage to me. But then of course my sample size is relatively low.
          – Lightness Races in Orbit
          Dec 31 '18 at 16:55






          @GaryBotnovcan I get what it means and how it's formed, it just doesn't seem like a common usage to me. But then of course my sample size is relatively low.
          – Lightness Races in Orbit
          Dec 31 '18 at 16:55




















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