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Reader question: Please explain “lost on him” in this sentence: “He said when he fought in Viet Nam, the meaning of war was lost on him. That has since changed.” My comments: To paraphrase: When he fought in Viet Nam, he did not understand the meaning of war. Now he does. In other words, he was young then, just shooting, for instance, when he was told to shoot without thinking about why he was sent to kill, whom he was fighting against and what he was fighting for. In other words, whether it was a just war (a war fought for a just cause) or just another war. Or other profound things like that, which you cannot expect young soldiers to understand fully. The “meaning of war” reminds me, for example, of Paul Simon’s song The Side of a Hill: On the side of a hill, in a land called somewhere, a little boy lies asleep in the earth. While down in the valley a cruel war rages, and people forget what a child’s life is worth. On the side of a hill, a little cloud weeps, and waters the grave with its silent tears, while a soldier cleans and polishes a gun that ended a life at the age of seven years. And the war rages on in a land called somewhere. And generals order their men to kill, and to fight for a cause they’ve long ago forgotten, while a little cloud weeps on the side of a hill. When I first heard it years ago, I thought it was beautiful, as many Paul Simon songs were beautiful, but I did not pay attention to its larger theme – that it was an anti-war song. And you can say that when I first heard it, its anti-war theme was lost on me. That is, I did not understand it. | 
