I’m at a loss—
how is "at a loss" used in a sentence?

at a loss for…
at a loss about…
at a loss . . . ???

All help gratefully received!

susankl

The way I’ve always heard it used is "at a loss for" as in "She was so shocked by the news that she was at a loss for words."

This is a to/for phrase. It requires "for" if it is a noun that is missing and "to" if it is a verb: "I am at a loss to explain why I’m at a loss for words."

It’s hard for me to resist a pun.  I’m sorry, but I gotta say it:  Doc’s last sentence is a "two-fer!"    

I thought the phrase: "I’m completely at a loss" was quite common. I’m sure I heard it and read it many times without a ‘to’ or ‘for’ in hearing or sight.

[quote author=Stargzer link=board=grammar;num=1029289572;start=0#3 date=08/16/02 at 18:04:16]Doc’s last sentence is a "two-fer!"

I’ve never come across a "two-fer" before—but would I be right in guessing it’s something like a British "bog-off"?

The latter expression is not just a rude way of telling someone to get lost. It’s also the pronunciation of the fairly new acronym BOGOF: (Buy One, Get One Free)—as in "I got two loaves cos the Co-op’s doing a Bogof on bread at the moment". Actually, one of the commonest Bogof items is, appropriately enough, toilet paper, a.k.a. bog rolls.

Coemgenus

Have you ever noticed how, at the end of a bogoffer, there is always one packet/box/tin of whatever it is left all alone on the shelf?... because no-one’s going to be taken for a mug and buy one of what they could have got two of for the same price (if you follow my drift).

I expect the bogofferers "factor in" the cost of that lost final sale against the inordinate time it would take to ensure that only even quantities of goods went onto the shelf in the first place.

(I got round that recently by "reconciling" two remaining singletons from different parts of the same supermarket.)

Coemgenus
(whose middle name isn’t really Scrooge)

OT ALERT!

So this expression is the source of the Harry Potter series’ name for non-wizards? (muggles)

-Tim

Do I take it, then, Tim, that "mug" is not used by Americans in the sense of "someone easily deceived"?

I’ve not read any Harry Potter but if I were asked to say off the top of my head what kind of people I thought "muggles" might be, I think I would probably say something like: gullible muddle-heads.

Would that fit with the attitude towards the "laity" of the wizards in Rowlings’s world?

Coemgenus

What does "OT Alert" mean, btw?

Do I take it, then, Tim, that "mug" is not used by Americans in the sense of "someone easily deceived"?

Mug meaning ‘gullible nitwit’ is more a Britishism than an Americanism. In old gangster patois, I suppose the equivalent term was ‘sap’, but you don’t hear that much anymore. It was certainly a common usage back in the early 20th Century.

Here, from addled memory, are the first verse and chorus of one of my favorite English music hall songs, "Trinity Church", from the first decade of that benighted century:

(In 2/4 time)

"Twelve months ago, with decent chances,
Prospects of success in life,
Through foolish love and ballroom dances,
Troubles came: I met my wife.
Such a charming, lovely creature,
She in my eyes did appear,
False, she was, though fair of feature,
Like the salmon, I was speared.

Chorus (in 6/8 time)[/]

In America, "getting mugged" is the only other form you’ll hear, besides the ones Katy mentioned.

As for Potter, I haven’t read any of the series.  I suppose I could ask my wife, but that would require that we actually get a few moments peace at home to leisurely discuss anything at all…  (Children can have an amazing time-sucking ability!)

"Muggle", as an extension of the English/British meaning of "mug", conjures an image of a person who is completely unaware of things—not exactly like a nitwit, but rather someone who just doesn’t grok life… (and how magical it can be)!

-Tim

What about "mug shot" as slang for a facial photograph?  Then there are the now obs. references to "ugly mug" just meaning face.