'it's lost on me!' = 'it's a waste on me!'?

[Mehrgan]

Hi,
Would you please tell me if the two expressions are equal in usage or not? I'm not sure about 'a' in the latter.

Thanks!

 

[emsr2d2]

Hi,
Would you please tell me if the two expressions are equal in usage or not? I'm not sure about 'a' in the latter.

Thanks!

The phrase is "It's wasted on me" and they're not quite the same.

"It's lost on me" is closer to "I don't understand".
"It's wasted on me" is more like "You shouldn't have bothered saying this to me because I just don't appreciate it. There are other people who would appreciate this more than I do".

 

[Mehrgan]

Thank you a lot for the reply. Would you also please tell me when the second phrase is usually used? Would you also say that in answer to one who's asked for a direction?

Best!

 

[emsr2d2]

Thank you a lot for the reply. Would you also please tell me when the second phrase is usually used? Would you also say that in answer to one who's asked for a direction?

Best!

In BrE, "That is/was wasted on me/him/you" is fairly common, yes.

As far as when it's used is concerned, there are various scenarios. Here are a couple of examples:

Have you been to the cinema lately?
Yes. I went to see Avatar in 3D last week.
Was it any good?
The plot was OK but I only have one eye so 3D films are totally wasted on me!

Did you enjoy the wedding last weekend?
Yes, it was great. I loved the food.
So did I, and the wine had been specially shipped in from a tiny village in Italy where they only make 100 bottles a year.
That was wasted on me - I don't drink wine!



I'm not sure I understand your other question. You want to say "It's wasted on me" in reply to someone asking you for directions in the street? Why would you do that?

Hi. Can you tell me how to get to the cathedral please?
No. It's wasted on me!

That definitely doesn't work. Please let me know if I have misunderstood what you wanted to say.

 

[Mehrgan]

I really appreciate your replying to the question. So helpful!
About the situation I mentioned, I was thinking of a condition when you're a stranger too, or don't really know the right direction. So, to show one can't be of any help I thought it would be the phrase which might work. Please correct me if I didn't get this last part.


I'm really thankful to you as this post of yours taught me something interesting. Cheers!

 

[emsr2d2]

I really appreciate your replying to the question. So helpful!
About the situation I mentioned, I was thinking of a condition when you're a stranger too, or don't really know the right direction. So, to show one can't be of any help I thought it would be the phrase which might work. Please correct me if I didn't get this last part.


I'm really thankful to you as this post of yours taught me something interesting. Cheers!

No. When you use "It's wasted on me" it's because something has already happened which you didn't appreciate/understand etc.

- Hi. Can you tell me the way to the cathedral please?
- No, I'm sorry. I don't live here.
- No, I'm sorry, I'm not from around here.
- No, sorry, I don't know where it is.

 

[Raymott]

No. When you use "It's wasted on me" it's because something has already happened which you didn't appreciate/understand etc.

- Hi. Can you tell me the way to the cathedral please?
- No, I'm sorry. I don't live here.
- No, I'm sorry, I'm not from around here.
- No, sorry, I don't know where it is.

However, the original questioner could possibly say, "So, my question was wasted on you, then?", though it would be rude.

I can also see a possibility for the following:

A: Hi. Can you tell me how to get to the cathedral please?
B: I'm a non-believer, so your question is wasted on me!​

(Though, in reality, you're unlikely to give such information to a stranger).

Generally, as said above, "It was wasted on me" generally means "It was over my head", "I couldn't understand it." For example, "Many of my answers are wasted on some readers."​

​

 

[Mehrgan]

Thank you too, for the points you've made. But, I'm not sure in what contexts it's considered rude or polite. It seems to be one of those phrases a non-native speaker had better avoid!