# A victory at too great a cost is called? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 2, 2009, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-victory-at-too-great-a-cost-is-called/519762 "2009-12-02T21:33:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-victory-at-too-great-a-cost-is-called/519762/21 "2009-12-03T23:32:54Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Holy Zeus, but you’re high maintenance during Advent. Fine. Can I help it that my Advent calendar had a candy corn instead of a chocolate today? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-victory-at-too-great-a-cost-is-called/519762/22 "2009-12-03T23:34:27Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > This is from the Appendices to Lord of the Rings, for those who aren’t me, QtC, **What Exit?** , **Elendil’s Heir** , **well, he’s back** , or **Malacandra** ; it is uttered by one of the Dwarves after a ruinous battle with the Orcs in Moria. _ahem_ ---
**Author:** ![fandango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b5ac83/32.png) [@fandango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fandango)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-victory-at-too-great-a-cost-is-called/519762/23 "2009-12-03T23:34:37Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > TTTNKWIIAWRATEO ! It’s for the kids! What are you giving him a balm for? It might bite him! ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-victory-at-too-great-a-cost-is-called/519762/24 "2009-12-03T23:37:41Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > _ahem_ Whereas you are ALWAYS high-maintenance. _This is from the Appendices to Lord of the Rings, for those who aren’t me, **knorf** , jayjay, QtC, What Exit?, Elendil’s Heir, well, he’s back, or Malacandra; it is uttered by one of the Dwarves after a ruinous battle with the Orcs in Moria._ ---
**Author:** ![Bartman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Bartman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bartman)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-victory-at-too-great-a-cost-is-called/519762/25 "2009-12-04T04:20:51Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Whereas you are ALWAYS high-maintenance. > > _This is from the Appendices to Lord of the Rings, for those who aren’t me, **knorf** , jayjay, QtC, What Exit?, Elendil’s Heir, well, he’s back, or Malacandra; it is uttered by one of the Dwarves after a ruinous battle with the Orcs in Moria._ **ahem** Keep counting. There are far more of us Tolkien geeks on SMDB than you are likely to list. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-victory-at-too-great-a-cost-is-called/519762/26 "2009-12-04T07:10:02Z")
> [@fandango](#): > > What are you giving him a balm for? It might bite him! Do not taunt Happy Fun Balm! ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-victory-at-too-great-a-cost-is-called/519762/27 "2009-12-04T12:23:53Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Wow! thanks guys. That’s gotta be some sort of record or something! 😃 Google returns “Pyrrhic Victory” as the first hit for “victory at too great a cost” in 0.18 seconds, so we at the Dope are still lagging. It even gets it with “to” instead of “too” and corrects the error to boot. Let’s step it up a notch, kids. Even Cecil must be starting to sweat. > **[Google Search](https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GGLS_en-USUS294US312&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=victory+at+too+great+a+cost)** ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-victory-at-too-great-a-cost-is-called/519762/28 "2009-12-04T12:35:01Z")
> [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > Google returns “Pyrrhic Victory” as the first hit for “victory at too great a cost” in 0.18 seconds, so we at the Dope are still lagging. > > It even gets it with “to” instead of “too” and corrects the error to boot. > > Let’s step it up a notch, kids. Even Cecil must be starting to sweat. > > [Google Search](http://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GGLS_en-USUS294US312&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=victory+at+too+great+a+cost) Howzabout this: “What’s that phrase for when you predict something based on the assumption that all other conditions stay the same?” I actually heard some dude asking this outside of business school one day. And threw out the answer to him as I walked past. ---
**Author:** ![Vorpal\_Blade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/9de0a6/32.png) [@Vorpal\_Blade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vorpal_Blade)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-victory-at-too-great-a-cost-is-called/519762/29 "2009-12-04T13:16:24Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > Howzabout this: “What’s that phrase for when you predict something based on the assumption that all other conditions stay the same?” I actually heard some dude asking this outside of business school one day. And threw out the answer to him as I walked past. Cerberus Paribus (unless I fucked up the spelling) ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-victory-at-too-great-a-cost-is-called/519762/30 "2009-12-04T13:57:15Z")
> [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > Google returns “Pyrrhic Victory” as the first hit for “victory at too great a cost” in 0.18 seconds, so we at the Dope are still lagging. > > It even gets it with “to” instead of “too” and corrects the error to boot. > > Let’s step it up a notch, kids. Even Cecil must be starting to sweat. Sure, but does google quote Tolkein, Monty Python, and taunt **Skald the Rhymer** at the same time? I think not. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-victory-at-too-great-a-cost-is-called/519762/31 "2009-12-04T14:38:04Z")
> [@bikebloke](#): > > Cerberus Paribus (unless I fucked up the spelling) I thought that was “All other things being three-headed dogs”. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-victory-at-too-great-a-cost-is-called/519762/32 "2009-12-04T14:49:03Z")
A thread on “victory at great cost” and nobody has mentioned the New York Yankees yet? Boy, there aren’t a lot of sports fans in GQ. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-victory-at-too-great-a-cost-is-called/519762/33 "2009-12-04T14:54:35Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > A thread on “victory at great cost” and nobody has mentioned the New York Yankees yet? Boy, there aren’t a lot of sports fans in GQ. But far from being “ruined” by winning the World Series with a $200MM+ payroll, the furnaces are merely stoked for shoveling in more megabucks. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-victory-at-too-great-a-cost-is-called/519762/34 "2009-12-04T15:05:43Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > But far from being “ruined” by winning the World Series with a $200MM+ payroll, the furnaces are merely stoked for shoveling in more megabucks. Yeah, for the Yankees that’s just a decent ROI; for the Marlins I think they had to melt them all down and sell them for their parts. Or something. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-victory-at-too-great-a-cost-is-called/519762/35 "2009-12-04T15:30:57Z")
> [@Bartman](#): > > **ahem** Keep counting. There are far more of us Tolkien geeks on SMDB than you are likely to list. 🙂 Rage, vengeance, acid-spitting hummingbirds, yawn. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-victory-at-too-great-a-cost-is-called/519762/36 "2009-12-04T15:32:04Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Sure, but does google quote Tolkein, Monty Python, and taunt **Skald the Rhymer** at the same time? I think not. You know the drill. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-victory-at-too-great-a-cost-is-called/519762/37 "2009-12-04T20:06:36Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > Howzabout this: “What’s that phrase for when you predict something based on the assumption that all other conditions stay the same?” Wow. [According to Google](http://www.google.com/search?q=predict+something+based+on+the+assumption+that+all+other+conditions+stay+the+same), it’s: “A victory at to great a cost is called?”! ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-victory-at-too-great-a-cost-is-called/519762/38 "2009-12-04T20:49:30Z")
Are you _sure_ it isn’t a Pyrrhic victory? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-victory-at-too-great-a-cost-is-called/519762/39 "2009-12-04T20:55:01Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Are you _sure_ it isn’t a Pyrrhic victory? Yes, like the victory realized by the allies after WWI. Sort of a 1910’s style victory. > [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > “If this is victory, our hands are too small to hold it” > > -JRRT Ok, I tried, but I just don’t get it. In the context of the OP I take it this quote refers to a battle that cost more in lives than it was worth, which would make it a tiny victory in my mind. So the hands would be too BIG to hold it. Or does it refer to a battle, the gains from which will be impossible to realize because the current victors are about to get their collective asses whupped in a retributive strike? ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-victory-at-too-great-a-cost-is-called/519762/40 "2009-12-04T21:40:45Z")
> [@fandango](#): > > What are you giving him a balm for? It might bite him! A balm? Who told you to use a balm? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-victory-at-too-great-a-cost-is-called/519762.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-victory-at-too-great-a-cost-is-called/519762.md?page=3)