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lost on

lost on

42 7.4
Not understood or appreciated by someone
  • idiom
translation icon : pasar desapercibido para
  • Nevertheless, the importance of these ideas was not lost on the technocrats in Brazil's national development bank.
  • irony is lost on many
  • point was lost on many
  • lesson was not lost on many

And that message was not lost on Bill Tutt.

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Examples

  • It's not lost on me that your situation is a little bit out of the ordinary.

  • But their intent appears to have been lost on their recipient.

    Academic text (2004)
  • Too bad it's lost on everybody else.

  • This day certainly has not been lost on you.

  • And it's never been lost on me that people travel from all over the world to go to Disney World.

  • Okay, well, the distinction is lost on me.

  • If your Milton is a little rusty, some of the pleasure may be lost on you.

    Academic text (2011)
  • The power of visual scale and its complicated relation to gender was not lost on her.

    Academic text (2013)
  • Well, your sacrifices aren't lost on me.

  • The message was clearly lost on him, as he continued to misinterpret everything.

Synonyms

over someone's head
vslost on
  • Informal
3 8.1

Too difficult for someone to understand

is not understood or appreciated even when not overly difficult
uncomprehending
vslost on
2 7.0

Not understanding what someone says or means

is about being not understood or appreciated rather than a person's inability
uncomprehended
vslost on
8.7

Not fully understood by people

is completely not understood or appreciated by someone
unapprehended
vslost on
9.1

Not understood or noticed by most people

is about being not understood or appreciated, not merely unnoticed
lost
vslost on
1.0

Not heard or understood because of loud noise

is not understood or appreciated for reasons other than noise or distraction

Antonyms

Clearly understood for what it really is

How Understood

lost on
42 7.4
over someone's head
  • Informal
3 8.1

Surface Forms

lost on positive

Morphology

lost + on

Although 'lost' and 'on' have clear literal meanings, the phrase uses 'lost' metaphorically (something failing to reach or affect someone) with 'on' marking the experiencer, so the sense 'not understood or appreciated by someone' is inferable but not strictly compositional. This indirect, metaphorical mapping may be guessed by some learners but is not fully predictable without exposure, and comparable constructions vary across languages.

Etymology

Lost on comes from the simple image of something that misses its target: imagine a gift thrown toward a person but it falls to the ground and is lost instead of landing on them. So, when a joke or idea is lost on someone, it is 'not understood or appreciated' by that person.