What does lost cause mean?
Idiom Meaning:
something hopeless or not worth pursuing
Examples of this Idiom in Movies & TV Shows:
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Time of Scene:
Jefferson Smith: I guess this is just another lost cause Mr. Paine. All you people don’t know about lost causes. Mr. Paine does. He said once they were the only causes worth fighting for and he fought for them once. For the only reason any man ever fights for them. Because of just one plain simple rule. Love thy neighbor. And in this world today of great hatred a man who knows that rule has a great trust. You know that rule Mr. Paine and I loved you for it just as my father did.
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Prison Break “Sleight of Hand” (2005)
Time of Scene:
LJ Burrows: What’d they say he did?
Nick Savrinn: A lot of bad things. They weren’t true and we proved that. Every day. Every day was a lost cause, but we kept fighting. I mean, what else you gonna do when you love somebody? You gonna let them go out like that? So you fight. You keep fighting. You never give up. We’re gonna beat this thing. Okay?
The Professionals (1966)
Time of Scene:
Bill Dolworth: The revolution? When the shooting stops, and the dead are buried, and the politicians take over, it all adds up to one thing… a lost cause.
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