Free lunch

Posted by ESC on April 17, 2004

In Reply to: There is no such thing as free lunch posted by french student on April 17, 2004

: hello! do you have any idea about what it means?

Nothing is free. There is a cost for everything. If someone gives you a "free lunch," he or she wants something for it. Maybe not money. But something.

FREE LUNCH - "...Nobel economics laureate Milton Friedman has published articles, a book and lectures using the title, 'There is no such thing as a free lunch.' His meaning is that everything, even what is seemingly 'free,' must be paid for by somebody in some way and that there is no sense in hiding that fact. Reached by letter, Dr. Friedman replied that he had no idea where his much-quoted phrase comes from.Slanguist Stuart Berg Flexner offered the author this help: 'Free lunch dates from the 1840s and was supposed to have moved from the West to the East, getting fancier as it approached eastern bars and hotels, so sometime after the late 1840s I can just see some bartender slapping the hands of a customer and asking him to buy that 5 cent beer before shoveling in the victuals.'" From Safire's New Political Dictionary by William Safire (Random House, New York, 1993).

• Free lunch Ssmokey Stover 18/April/04