[Ads-l] RES: Adage: There ain't no such thing as a free lunch

Mon Aug 29 15:53:30 UTC 2016

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

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

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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I guess the response in each is that the free lunch isn't *really* free, =
since you need to buy a drink (in the old bars), deal with the = temptation
of the non-free stuff at Whole Foods etc. while you're = grazing on the free
stuff, put up with the sermons and/or Sam's Club = clientele below, or
mingle with the undergraduates at the Yale = residential college dining
halls. =20

LH

> On Aug 29, 2016, at 11:02 AM, paul johnson <paulzjoh at MTNHOME.COM> =
wrote:
>=20
> For free lunches in action, try a Sam's Club just after church let's =
out on  a Sunday.  Actual lines filled with families grazing in the = store.
>=20
>=20
> 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:
>>>=20
>>> Nowadays, there is such a thing -- one goes grazing near lunch-time 
>>>=
at a Whole Foods (or similar) market.
>>>=20
>>> Joel
>> Don't tell anyone but there is free lunch at Yale (as faculty or =
retired faculty). Too bad TISTAAFL doesn't have quite the same = profundity
as TANSTAAFL.
>>=20
>> LH
>>>=20
>>>      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 =
lunch
>>>=20
>>> I looked into "free lunch" last year before becoming distracted by =
something else.
>>>=20
>>> And, since there is no such thing as a "free lunch," someone beat me 
>>>=
to the punch.
>>>=20
>>>=20
>>> My summary:
>>>=20
>>> A "free lunch," generally served with beer or liquor in a tavern, =
dates to at least 1851.  It was kinda like the precursor of the modern =
happy hour buffet.
>>>=20
>>> Because "free lunches" encouraged people to lounge around in bars, =
squandering the family's rent money or grocery money on booze and free =
food; it came under fire from the Temperance movement.
>>>=20
>>> The earliest example I could find of "free lunch" as a metaphor in a 
>>>=
socio-economic policy discussion is from poem, credited to Josephine =
Pollard, that appeared in several papers, as early as September 1887:
>>>=20
>>>=20
>>> The Progressive Farmer (Winston, NC), September 8, 1887, page 5.
>>>=20
>>> 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.
>>>=20
>>> 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 =20  Some boast of the credit they freely obtain,  
>>>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.
>>>=20
>>> 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.
>>>=20
>>>=20
>>> A few weeks later, an anecdote by the same name was published, =
illustrating the ultimate costs of drinking too much and enjoying free =
lunches:
>>>=20
>>> The Watchman and Southron (Sumter, South Carolina), October 26, =
1887, page 4 (citing a periodical called, Companion:
>>>=20
>>> Somebody Pays
>>>=20
>>> Tom C ----- , a lad from the country who had secured a situation in 
>>>=
New York, was taken in charge by John, an older boy, who 'knew the = ropes.'
Here is the place for dinner,' he said one day, during their = hour at noon,
stopping before a glittering house, with windows of = stained glass, and a
gilt sign displaying an attractive bill of fare.
>>>=20
>>> 'Clam soup. Ham. Sardines. Cheese. Free lunch.  Come along! You can 
>>>=
eat a hearty dinner, all for nothing.'
>>>=20
>>> But Tom drew back.  'I don't understand.  But I'm sure of one thing: 
>>>=
Somebody pays,' he said.  A year later he met John, who had been =
discharged months before, coming out of the ginshop, staggering.  It was =
late at night.  John's wife, pale, hungry-looking, shabbily clothed, was =
waiting for him.
>>>=20
>>> 'I see now who paid for the free lunches, said the country lad, as =
he helped her to lead her drunken husband home. - Companion.
>>>=20
>>> I found numerous examples of similar sentiments throughout the =
1890s, but not in the familiar form.
>>>=20
>>> The earliest example of something like the familiar idiom that I =
could find is from 1909:
>>>=20
>>> The Washington Herald, November 2, 1909, page 6 =20  Mr. Tillman's 
>>>idea that free lunch is good enough for anybody - or =
even Presidents - may appear sound to some people, but, as a matter of =
face, there is no such thing as free lunch.  Somebody has to pay for it.
>>>=20
>>> I a similar expression from 1901 - but it was more literal:
>>>=20
>>> The Round Table (Beloit College yearbook), 1900  At Paris there is 
>>>no such thing as a free lunch, at least I never =
found anything of the kind, and I looked for them.  You always paid, not =
very much to be sure . . . .
>>>=20
>>> Pete Reitan
>>>=20
>>>> 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
>>>>=20
>>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header =
-----------------------
>>>> 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
>>>> =
--------------------------------------------------------------------------=
-----
>>>>=20
>>>> The Quote Investigator website now has an entry on the topic in the  
>>>>subject line:
>>>>=20
>>>> There Ain't No Such Thing as a Free Lunch  =
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=3Dhttp-3A__quoteinvestigator.co=
m_2016_08_27_free-2Dlunch_&d=3DCwIFaQ&c=3D-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=3DwFp3X=
4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=3DP-HIlVJqs4kcr1EoT420638LeVqyL-V=
iSj11v6N668M&s=3DErx0SD0TuFtwC3h5avMlvYbxK9LwJb1w1f9Wplxj3m8&e=3D
>>>>=20
>>>> The treatment is incomplete, but the text is already over 3,300 =
words,
>>>> and that is enough for now. This saying has been discussed on the 
>>>> mailing list repeatedly. I shared some findings back in October =
2009.
>>>>=20
>>>> Feedback welcome,
>>>> Garson
>>>>=20
>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>>> The American Dialect Society - =
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kPuDiHsmKpHmZpx0lJV_upiEVsoqdnSVbeA28&e=3D
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>=20
> --=20
> If God wanted us to vote, he would have given us candidates.
>=20
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