there's no such thing as a free lunch

English

Alternative forms

• there ain't no such thing as a free lunch, there is no free lunch, there is no such thing as a free lunch

Etymology

In use since the 1930s. Popularized by the American economist Milton Friedman through the title of a 1975 book, and frequently misattributed to him.

Phrase

there's no such thing as a free lunch

1. Nothing is free; even things that appear free often have to be paid in the end.

   Synonyms: TANSTAAFL, TINSTAAFL

Related terms

• free lunch

Translations

nothing is free; everything has a price

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: няма такова нещо като безплатен обяд (njama takova nešto kato bezplaten objad)
• Catalan: ningú dóna duros a quatre pessetes
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 天下沒有白吃的午餐／天下没有白吃的午餐 (tiānxià méiyǒu báichī de wǔcān)

• Czech: žádný oběd není zadarmo
• Finnish: ilmaisia lounaita ei ole
• French: on n’a rien sans rien (fr), tout a un prix
• German: nichts ist umsonst, es wird einem nichts geschenkt
• Hebrew: אין ארוחות חינם (he) (ēn arukhot ḥinám)
• Hungarian: semmi sincs ingyen, semmit nem adnak ingyen, semmit sem adnak ajándékba
• Italian: i soldi non crescono sugli alberi
• Japanese: 只より高いものはない (ja) (tada-yori takai mono-wa nai)
• Norwegian: ingenting i livet er gratis
• Polish: nie ma darmowych obiadów
• Portuguese: não existe almoço de graça, não existe almoço grátis
• Russian: беспла́тный сыр быва́ет то́лько в мышело́вке (besplátnyj syr byvájet tólʹko v myšelóvke, literally “free cheese may be only in a mouse-trap”)
• Serbo-Croatian: nema besplatnog ručka
• Turkish: bedava yemek diye bir şey yoktur
• Ukrainian: немає такої речі, як безкоштовний обід (nemaje takoji reči, jak bezkoštovnyj obid)

See also

• freedom is not free
• tragedy of the commons
• you don't get something for nothing

Further reading

• there ain't no such thing as a free lunch on Wikipedia.Wikipedia