TANSTAAFL

[Fred Shapiro]

On Fri, 2 Feb 2001 Mark_Mandel at DRAGONSYS.COM wrote:

> Larry writes:
> >>>>>
> In fact, the acronym must have (and as I recall it did) stood for
> "There AIN'T no such thing as a free lunch", or else it would have
> been TINSTAAFL.  What we have here is another covert-prestige dialect
> borrowing.
> <<<<<
> So says my memory also, and lots of fan buttons.

TANSTAAFL was Robert Heinlein's slogan in his 1966 book, The Moon is a
Harsh Mistress.  It became popular in science-fiction fan circles.
However, TINSTAAFL is documented in 1952 in a reference suggesting it may
have been around for a while before that.

Fred Shapiro


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