"No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

[Towse]

Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:
>
>   Fred Shapiro wanted to know about this in the Christian Science Monitor.  Columbia connects all four databases (CSM, NYT, WP, WSJ).  "No free lunch" has large gaps.
>

<http://www.word-detective.com/back-a2.html>

"And, according to Robert Caro, quoted in the Random House
Historical Dictionary of American Slang, New York Mayor Fiorello
LaGuardia used the phrase (in Latin, no less) in 1934.

"I don't think anyone is likely to come up with a definitive
"first use" of this phrase. The institution of a "free lunch"
itself dates back to the mid-19th century, when it was common for
taverns to offer their paying customers free food (usually a cold
buffet) along with their drinks. Since eating the "free" food
required first buying a drink, however, it was debatable whether
the "lunch" was really "free" in any real sense. I'd be surprised
if the common-sense aphorism "there's no such thing as a free
lunch" didn't arise within just a few years of the establishment
of the "free lunch" practice in 19th century taverns.

Sal
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