[first_amendment]

C++11 allows you to write natural "value-oriented" code without paying a copying cost. This is thanks to RVO (return value optimization) and move semantics.

[barrkel]

You might have noticed that we were talking about C and assembly.

[sqeaky]

There is often a great deal of copy elision when passing things by value when the compiler can prove it the copying itself won't cause side effects.