<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" standalone="no"?> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>lossy</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="../../jargon.css" type="text/css"/><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.61.0"/><link rel="home" href="../index.html" title="The Jargon File"/><link rel="up" href="../L.html" title="L"/><link rel="previous" href="lossage.html" title="lossage"/><link rel="next" href="lost-in-the-noise.html" title="lost in the noise"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">lossy</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="lossage.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">L</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="lost-in-the-noise.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="lossy"/><dt xmlns="" id="lossy"><b>lossy</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">adj.</span></dt></dt><dd><p> [Usenet] </p></dd><dd><p> 1. Said of people, this indicates a poor memory, usually short-term. This usage is analogical to the same term applied to data compression and analysis. “<span class="quote">He's very lossy.</span>” means that you can't rely on him to accurately remember recent experiences or conversations, or requests. Not to be confused with a ‘loser’, which is a person who is in a continual state of lossiness, as in sense 2 (see below). </p></dd><dd><p> 2. Said of an attitude or a situation, this indicates a general downturn in emotions, lack of success in attempted endeavors, etc. Eg, “<span class="quote">I'm having a lossy day today.</span>” means that the speaker has ‘lost’ or is ‘losing’ in all of their activities, and that this is causing some increase in negative emotions.</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="lossage.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../L.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="lost-in-the-noise.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">lossage </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> lost in the noise</td></tr></table></div></body></html>