English

Phrase

TINSTAAFL

1. (idiomatic) There is no such thing as a free lunch; an alternative to TANSTAAFL
   • 1952, Ethics magazine, cited in 2006, Ralph Keyes, The Quote Verifier: Who Said What, Where, and When, Macmillan, page 70,

     Professor Alvin Hansen's famous TINSTAAFL formula--"There is no such thing as a free lunch"

     [Keyes adds, "This acronym had already appeared in a 1949 newspaper column."]