"there's no such thing as a free lunch" meaning in English

See there's no such thing as a free lunch in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Phrase

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. Head templates: {{head|en|phrase|head=there's no such thing as a free lunch}} there's no such thing as a free lunch
  1. Nothing is free; even things that appear free often have to be paid for in the end. Wikipedia link: Milton Friedman Synonyms: TANSTAAFL, TINSTAAFL, there ain't no such thing as a free lunch, there is no free lunch, there is no such thing as a free lunch Related terms: free lunch, BNPL, freedom is not free, point of sale, tragedy of the commons, you don't get something for nothing Translations (nothing is free; everything has a price): няма такова нещо като безплатен обяд (njama takova nešto kato bezplaten objad) (Bulgarian), ningú dóna duros a quatre pessetes (Catalan), 天下沒有白吃的午餐 (Chinese Mandarin), 天下没有白吃的午餐 (tiānxià méiyǒu báichī de wǔcān) (Chinese Mandarin), žádný oběd není zadarmo (Czech), ilmaisia lounaita ei ole (Finnish), on n’a rien sans rien (French), tout a un prix (French), nichts ist umsonst (German), es wird einem nichts geschenkt (German), אין ארוחות חינם (ēn arukhot ḥinám) (Hebrew), semmi sincs ingyen (Hungarian), semmit nem adnak ingyen (Hungarian), semmit sem adnak ajándékba (Hungarian), i soldi non crescono sugli alberi (Italian), 只より高いものはない (tada-yori takai mono-wa nai) (Japanese), ingenting i livet er gratis (Norwegian), nie ma darmowych obiadów (Polish), não existe almoço de graça (Portuguese), não existe almoço grátis (Portuguese), nema besplatnog ručka (Serbo-Croatian), bedava yemek diye bir şey yoktur (Turkish), немає такої речі, як безкоштовний обід (nemaje takoji reči, jak bezkoštovnyj obid) (Ukrainian)

Alternative forms

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          "word": "point of sale"
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          "word": "tragedy of the commons"
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          "word": "you don't get something for nothing"
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          "word": "TINSTAAFL"
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          "word": "there ain't no such thing as a free lunch"
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          "word": "there is no free lunch"
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          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "njama takova nešto kato bezplaten objad",
          "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
          "word": "няма такова нещо като безплатен обяд"
        },
        {
          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
          "word": "ningú dóna duros a quatre pessetes"
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        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
          "word": "天下沒有白吃的午餐"
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          "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
          "word": "žádný oběd není zadarmo"
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        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
          "word": "ilmaisia lounaita ei ole"
        },
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          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
          "word": "on n’a rien sans rien"
        },
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          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
          "word": "tout a un prix"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
          "word": "nichts ist umsonst"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
          "word": "es wird einem nichts geschenkt"
        },
        {
          "code": "he",
          "lang": "Hebrew",
          "roman": "ēn arukhot ḥinám",
          "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
          "word": "אין ארוחות חינם"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
          "word": "semmi sincs ingyen"
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          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
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          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
          "word": "semmit sem adnak ajándékba"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
          "word": "i soldi non crescono sugli alberi"
        },
        {
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "tada-yori takai mono-wa nai",
          "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
          "word": "只より高いものはない"
        },
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          "code": "no",
          "lang": "Norwegian",
          "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
          "word": "ingenting i livet er gratis"
        },
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          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
          "word": "nie ma darmowych obiadów"
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          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
          "word": "não existe almoço de graça"
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          "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
          "word": "não existe almoço grátis"
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          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "note": "беспла́тный сыр быва́ет то́лько в мышело́вке (besplátnyj syr byvájet tólʹko v myšelóvke, literally “free cheese may be only in a mouse-trap”)",
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          "code": "sh",
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          "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
          "word": "nema besplatnog ručka"
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          "code": "tr",
          "lang": "Turkish",
          "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
          "word": "bedava yemek diye bir şey yoktur"
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          "code": "uk",
          "lang": "Ukrainian",
          "roman": "nemaje takoji reči, jak bezkoštovnyj obid",
          "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
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      "word": "there is no free lunch"
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      "code": "bg",
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      "roman": "njama takova nešto kato bezplaten objad",
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      "word": "няма такова нещо като безплатен обяд"
    },
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
      "word": "ningú dóna duros a quatre pessetes"
    },
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      "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
      "word": "天下沒有白吃的午餐"
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      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "tiānxià méiyǒu báichī de wǔcān",
      "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
      "word": "天下没有白吃的午餐"
    },
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      "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
      "word": "žádný oběd není zadarmo"
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      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
      "word": "ilmaisia lounaita ei ole"
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      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
      "word": "on n’a rien sans rien"
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      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
      "word": "tout a un prix"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
      "word": "nichts ist umsonst"
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      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
      "word": "es wird einem nichts geschenkt"
    },
    {
      "code": "he",
      "lang": "Hebrew",
      "roman": "ēn arukhot ḥinám",
      "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
      "word": "אין ארוחות חינם"
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    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
      "word": "semmi sincs ingyen"
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      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
      "word": "semmit nem adnak ingyen"
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      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
      "word": "semmit sem adnak ajándékba"
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      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
      "word": "i soldi non crescono sugli alberi"
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    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "tada-yori takai mono-wa nai",
      "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
      "word": "只より高いものはない"
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      "code": "no",
      "lang": "Norwegian",
      "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
      "word": "ingenting i livet er gratis"
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      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
      "word": "nie ma darmowych obiadów"
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      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
      "word": "não existe almoço de graça"
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      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
      "word": "não existe almoço grátis"
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      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "note": "беспла́тный сыр быва́ет то́лько в мышело́вке (besplátnyj syr byvájet tólʹko v myšelóvke, literally “free cheese may be only in a mouse-trap”)",
      "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price"
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      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
      "word": "nema besplatnog ručka"
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      "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
      "word": "bedava yemek diye bir şey yoktur"
    },
    {
      "code": "uk",
      "lang": "Ukrainian",
      "roman": "nemaje takoji reči, jak bezkoštovnyj obid",
      "sense": "nothing is free; everything has a price",
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  "word": "there's no such thing as a free lunch"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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