Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

there's no such thing as a free lunch

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.51 in modern English

Syllables
there's no -such thing as a free lunch
IPA
49
Scrabble Score
29
Letters
2
Syllables
14
Unique Chars

Meaning

phrase

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

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.

Inflected Forms

there ain't no such thing as a free lunch (alternative) there is no free lunch (alternative) there is no such thing as a free lunch (alternative)

Phrases

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

Frequently Paired Words

free lunch BNPL freedom is not free point of sale tragedy of the commons you don't get something for nothing

Synonyms

TANSTAAFL TINSTAAFL

Questions

What does there's no such thing as a free lunch mean?
Nothing is free; even things that appear free often have to be paid for in the end.
Where does there's no such thing as a free lunch come from?
In use since the 1930s. Popularized by the American economist Milton Friedman through the title of a 1975 book, and frequently misattributed to him.

How to pronounce there's no such thing as a free lunch

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “there's no such thing as a free lunch”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “there's no such thing as a free lunch”.
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