That’s my source:

  HoS lI' Dalo'Ha'chu'

  You are a total waste of good energy! (PK)

I understood it in the sense of “wasting your time” or “wasted effort” or “a waste of skin” for which it does mean “misuse” – albeit a stronger form.  You’re right that {lo’Ha’chu’} might be a better gloss in my notes.

Voragh

From: tlhIngan-Hol <tlhingan-hol-bounces@lists.kli.org> On Behalf Of De'vID
Sent: Wednesday, June 1, 2022 7:03 AM

On Tue, 31 May 2022 at 16:43, Steven Boozer <sboozer@uchicago.edu> wrote:

SEE:
lo'             use,  worth,  mode (n)
lo'             use,  make use of (v)
lo'Ha'        waste (v)

These seem to include definitions which are not "canon". The noun {lo'} is defined in the Addendum to TKD as "use". The "mode" definition comes from a message to this mailing list on 2018-02-17: http://lists.kli.org/pipermail/tlhingan-hol-kli.org/2018-February/007388.html

But where is "worth" from? 

I don't think {lo'Ha'} means "waste" but rather "misuse". {HoS lI' Dalo'Ha'chu'} only means "You are a total waste of good energy" because of the suffix {-chu'}. A more literal translation would be "you perfectly misuse useful energy".

vIlo'laHbe'
They are useless to me.
I cannot use them. TKD

leghlaHchu'be'chugh mIn lo'laHbe' taj jej
A sharp knife is nothing without a sharp eye. TKW

lo'laHbe'; chetvI' chIm rur
worthless as an empty torpedo tube KGT