[Ads-l] RES: RES: Adage: There ain't no such thing as a free lunch
David Daniel
dad at COARSECOURSES.COM
Mon Aug 29 19:21:59 UTC 2016
TANSTAAFA - precisely! "Lunch" is just the synecdoche for "Anything!"
DAD
Enviada em: segunda-feira, 29 de agosto de 2016 14:17
Para: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Assunto: Re: RES: Adage: There ain't no such thing as a free lunch
Poster: Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
Subject: Re: RES: Adage: There ain't no such thing as a free lunch
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Well, by the same token, *nothing* is free, because you could always = have
been granted X dollars instead. When you "buy two, get one free", = you
could have been given the cost of one instead. And we know = (although I
don't know who it gets attributed to) that "freedom isn't = free". So there
ain't no such thing as a free anything. TANSTAAFA.
LH
> On Aug 29, 2016, at 11:53 AM, David Daniel <dad at COARSECOURSES.COM> =
wrote:
>=20
> Instead of feeding you a "free" lunch at Yale, they could maybe pay =
you X
> bucks a day more. So it ain't free; it's costing you X bucks a day. =
The cost
> of samples that people graze on at supermarkets is added to the =
consumer
> price of the item. So that ain't free either. I'd say things are =
looking
> pretty TANSTAAFL-ish to me.
> DAD
>=20
> Enviada em: segunda-feira, 29 de agosto de 2016 12:08
> Para: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Assunto: Re: Adage: There ain't no such thing as a free lunch =20
> Poster: Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject: Re: Adage: There ain't no such thing as a free lunch
> =
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--
> ---
>=20
> I guess the response in each is that the free lunch isn't *really* =
free, =3D
> since you need to buy a drink (in the old bars), deal with the =3D =
temptation
> of the non-free stuff at Whole Foods etc. while you're =3D grazing on
> =
the free
> stuff, put up with the sermons and/or Sam's Club =3D clientele below,
> =
or
> mingle with the undergraduates at the Yale =3D residential college =
dining
> halls. =3D20
>=20
> LH
>=20
>> On Aug 29, 2016, at 11:02 AM, paul johnson <paulzjoh at MTNHOME.COM> =3D
> wrote:
>> =3D20
>> For free lunches in action, try a Sam's Club just after church let's
>> =
=3D
> out on a Sunday. Actual lines filled with families grazing in the
> =3D =
store.
>> =3D20
>> =3D20
>> On 8/29/2016 9:55 AM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>>>> On Aug 28, 2016, at 9:12 PM, Joel Berson <berson at ATT.NET> wrote:
>>>> =3D20
>>>> Nowadays, there is such a thing -- one goes grazing near lunch-time
>>>> =3D
> at a Whole Foods (or similar) market.
>>>> =3D20
>>>> Joel
>>> Don't tell anyone but there is free lunch at Yale (as faculty or =3D
> retired faculty). Too bad TISTAAFL doesn't have quite the same =3D =
profundity
> as TANSTAAFL.
>>> =3D20
>>> LH
>>>> =3D20
>>>> From: Peter Reitan <pjreitan at HOTMAIL.COM>
>>>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>>> Sent: Sunday, August 28, 2016 5:23 PM
>>>> Subject: Re: [ADS-L] Adage: There ain't no such thing as a free =3D
> lunch
>>>> =3D20
>>>> I looked into "free lunch" last year before becoming distracted by
>>>> =
=3D
> something else.
>>>> =3D20
>>>> And, since there is no such thing as a "free lunch," someone beat =
me
>>>> =3D
> to the punch.
>>>> =3D20
>>>> =3D20
>>>> My summary:
>>>> =3D20
>>>> A "free lunch," generally served with beer or liquor in a tavern,
>>>> =3D=
> dates to at least 1851. It was kinda like the precursor of the modern
> =
=3D
> happy hour buffet.
>>>> =3D20
>>>> Because "free lunches" encouraged people to lounge around in bars,
>>>> =
=3D
> squandering the family's rent money or grocery money on booze and free
> =
=3D
> food; it came under fire from the Temperance movement.
>>>> =3D20
>>>> The earliest example I could find of "free lunch" as a metaphor in
>>>> =
a
>>>> =3D
> socio-economic policy discussion is from poem, credited to Josephine
> =3D=
> Pollard, that appeared in several papers, as early as September 1887:
>>>> =3D20
>>>> =3D20
>>>> The Progressive Farmer (Winston, NC), September 8, 1887, page 5.
>>>> =3D20
>>>> Some find it convenient to live at their ease, And all obligations
>>>> to shirk; On every occasion to do as they please, And give no
>>>> attention to work.
>>>> As idlers and sluggards, as loungers and drones, They follow their
>>>> indolent ways.
>>>> By being this lax, increasing the tax That somebody pays.
>>>> =3D20
>>>> Free lunches, free passes, they have at command, Rich gifts that =
to
>>>> others are lost, And gaily they feast on the fat of the land, And
>>>> travel regardless of cost.
>>>> But for all the fine banquets, the wear and the tear Of public or
>>>> private displays, Though you may go free, 'tis as sure as can be
>>>> That somebody pays =3D20 Some boast of the credit they freely =
obtain, =20
>>>> The taxes from which they're exempt, And to cancel the favors
>>>> received, it is plain They've made not a single attempt; With =
honor
>>>> at stake, they consent to remain In debt to the end of their days,
>>>> And with insolent pride, a "free horse" they ride, For which
>>>> somebody pays.
>>>> =3D20
>>>> Some go through the world with a niggardly heart, And carry a
>>>> miserly purse, While others, with liberal zeal, do their part, =
And
>>>> freely their treasures disburse; And for hours of idleness we may
>>>> enjoy, For losses and needless delays, For waste and neglect, it
>>>> =
is
>>>> well to reflect That somebody pays.
>>>> -Josephine Pollard.
>>>> =3D20
>>>> =3D20
>>>> A few weeks later, an anecdote by the same name was published, =3D
> illustrating the ultimate costs of drinking too much and enjoying free
> =
=3D
> lunches:
>>>> =3D20
>>>> The Watchman and Southron (Sumter, South Carolina), October 26, =3D
> 1887, page 4 (citing a periodical called, Companion:
>>>> =3D20
>>>> Somebody Pays
>>>> =3D20
>>>> Tom C ----- , a lad from the country who had secured a situation in
>>>> =3D
> New York, was taken in charge by John, an older boy, who 'knew the =3D
> =
ropes.'
> Here is the place for dinner,' he said one day, during their =3D hour
> =
at noon,
> stopping before a glittering house, with windows of =3D stained glass,
> =
and a
> gilt sign displaying an attractive bill of fare.
>>>> =3D20
>>>> 'Clam soup. Ham. Sardines. Cheese. Free lunch. Come along! You can
>>>> =3D
> eat a hearty dinner, all for nothing.'
>>>> =3D20
>>>> But Tom drew back. 'I don't understand. But I'm sure of one =
thing:
>>>> =3D
> Somebody pays,' he said. A year later he met John, who had been =3D
> discharged months before, coming out of the ginshop, staggering. It =
was =3D
> late at night. John's wife, pale, hungry-looking, shabbily clothed, =
was =3D
> waiting for him.
>>>> =3D20
>>>> 'I see now who paid for the free lunches, said the country lad, as
>>>> =
=3D
> he helped her to lead her drunken husband home. - Companion.
>>>> =3D20
>>>> I found numerous examples of similar sentiments throughout the =3D
> 1890s, but not in the familiar form.
>>>> =3D20
>>>> The earliest example of something like the familiar idiom that I
>>>> =3D
> could find is from 1909:
>>>> =3D20
>>>> The Washington Herald, November 2, 1909, page 6 =3D20 Mr. =
Tillman's
>>>> idea that free lunch is good enough for anybody - or =3D
> even Presidents - may appear sound to some people, but, as a matter of
> =
=3D
> face, there is no such thing as free lunch. Somebody has to pay for =
it.
>>>> =3D20
>>>> I a similar expression from 1901 - but it was more literal:
>>>> =3D20
>>>> The Round Table (Beloit College yearbook), 1900 At Paris there is
>>>> no such thing as a free lunch, at least I never =3D
> found anything of the kind, and I looked for them. You always paid, =
not =3D
> very much to be sure . . . .
>>>> =3D20
>>>> Pete Reitan
>>>> =3D20
>>>>> Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2016 02:06:39 -0400
>>>>> From: adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM
>>>>> Subject: Adage: There ain't no such thing as a free lunch
>>>>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>>>> =3D20
>>>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header =3D
> -----------------------
>>>>> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>>> Poster: ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
>>>>> Subject: Adage: There ain't no such thing as a free lunch
>>>>> =3D
> =
--------------------------------------------------------------------------=
=3D
> -----
>>>>> =3D20
>>>>> The Quote Investigator website now has an entry on the topic in =
the
>>>>> subject line:
>>>>> =3D20
>>>>> There Ain't No Such Thing as a Free Lunch =3D
> =
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=3D3Dhttp-3A__quoteinvestigator.=
co=3D
> =
m_2016_08_27_free-2Dlunch_&d=3D3DCwIFaQ&c=3D3D-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=3D3=
DwFp3X=3D
> =
4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=3D3DP-HIlVJqs4kcr1EoT420638LeVqyL=
-V=3D
> iSj11v6N668M&s=3D3DErx0SD0TuFtwC3h5avMlvYbxK9LwJb1w1f9Wplxj3m8&e=3D3D
>>>>> =3D20
>>>>> The treatment is incomplete, but the text is already over 3,300
>>>>> =3D
> words,
>>>>> and that is enough for now. This saying has been discussed on the
>>>>> mailing list repeatedly. I shared some findings back in October
>>>>> =3D
> 2009.
>>>>> =3D20
>>>>> Feedback welcome,
>>>>> Garson
>>>>> =3D20
>>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>> The American Dialect Society - =3D
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>>>> =3D
> ------------------------------------------------------------
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>> --=3D20
>> If God wanted us to vote, he would have given us candidates.
>> =3D20
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