Zheng Chen
What does ‘for all the good it did’ allude here? I’ve done some research on ‘ for all the good it does’. For example, I told him ten times, for all the good it did me. = it didn't do me any good, he never understood. I am reading Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology and I came across the following sentence: Thor pushed the old woman and he pulled her, he tried to move her, to trip her, to force her down, but she might as well have been made of rock for all the good it did. So the question is what does ‘for all the good it did’ imply here? Does it mean the fact that the old woman was like a boulder didn’t do any good to her? It doesn’t make any sense to me. Thank you in advance.
Oct 14, 2018 2:15 AM
Answers · 4
1
With everything Thor tried to do to move the woman, there was no effect and for all the good it did is a way of saying it was a waste of time and there was no result. It is similar to sarcasm
October 14, 2018
1
It means that the person tried to help but it did no good
October 14, 2018
Just going by this sentence alone: Thor pushed the old woman and he pulled her, he tried to move her, to trip her, to force her down, but she might as well have been made of rock for all the good it did. "for all the good it did" Here, the "it" refers to all the actions that Thor had previously done to/on her. So paraphrasing, For all the merit/good each of those actions Thor had done, she might as well have been made of rock. Which means... Although those actions were done in good faith, hoping something good could come out of it... (it was unfruitful, useless, futile) Stuart, the first answer was correct!
October 14, 2018
all to the ˈgood used to say that if something happens, it will be good, even if it is not exactly what you were expecting: ‘I’m afraid we’ve arrived a bit early.’ ‘Don’t worry. It’s all to the good. It means we can start the meeting earlier.’ Source: https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/all+to+the+good
October 14, 2018
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