"No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

[Fred Shapiro]

On Wed, 7 May 2003, Towse wrote:

> "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.

What LaGuardia is supposed to have said translates as "no more free
lunch."  This is very different from the economists' proverb, which says
that there is never a free lunch, never has been, never will be.

Fred Shapiro


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Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
Associate Librarian for Collections and     YALE DICTIONARY OF QUOTATIONS
  Access and Lecturer in Legal Research     Yale University Press,
Yale Law School                             forthcoming
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