no harm, no foul
1
8.4
- idiom
- Informal
:
sin daño, sin falta
- The meeting went off track, but since we still reached an agreement, I said, "No harm, no foul here."
- say no harm, no foul
Examples
-
But hey, no harm, no foul.
Blog text (27) -
So, no harm, no foul.
Blog text (4) -
Enforce all of them, and there is no harm, no foul.
Blog text (23) -
Go on your merry way; no harm, no foul.
Blog text (15) -
I personally think that putting a word count limit on a query is as silly as putting a word count limit on a novel, and so it raised the question of whether I'd really want to work with her even if she responded (and she didn't, so no harm, no foul), but I still played by the rules set out.
Blog text (29) -
After the mix-up with the reservation, I told her, "No harm, no foul, we can still enjoy our dinner."
-
When he accidentally spilled my drink, I reassured him, "It's alright, no harm, no foul!"
Synonyms
618
1.0
Saying that something can be done easily or that you do not need to worry
34
4.8
Not angry or upset after an argument
13
8.5
Not a serious problem you need to worry about
2
6.6
A friendly reply that tells someone there is no problem
A friendly phrase to tell someone not to worry
Antonyms
How Serious
10
5.3
- Informal
1
8.4
- Informal
618
1.0
- Informal
13
8.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from the parts: 'no harm' = no damage and 'no foul' = no offense or rule-breaking, so together they convey 'no damage, no problem.' The coordinated negative structure and literal senses of the words (despite the idiomatic, rhyming form) make this straightforward for a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.
Etymology
No harm, no foul comes from sports and playground games. In those games a foul is a rule break and harm means someone is hurt, so if there is no harm players often don't call a foul. So we say it to mean 'no reason to be upset'.