Does anybody know where this expression came from? I am trying to find out whether it is a proper quotation, or simply a proverbial hand-me-down...
Thank you!

Marianna

TANSTAAFL was coined by Robert Heinlein in his book, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

...was coined by Robert Heinlein

I was an avid reader of Heinlein...never realized he coined that, though!

no such thing as...

Actually, there is a very reputable poetry journal edited by Ron Offen called Free Lunch!...you can look it up.

Are you sure about that? I know Heinlein used the line -- but I think its older than that.
NY (actually, all eastern, and maybe all over US)Bar's used to offer "free Lunches" (and McSorley's still has a remnant of it) but it only came with the purchase of beer.

Many a greenhorn worker found out quickly-- there is no such thing as a free lunch. I think this was a common expression-- Heinlein was originally from the East, and would have heard it. --- maybe BYB can comment. I am pretty sure it was common during the great depression. (1930's)

There ain't no such thing as a free lunch:

My memory also had this predating Heinlein, but I googled to be sure(-ish) and found http://www.uselessknowledge.com/word/freelunch.shtml which states:

In reply to:

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The term free lunch first appeared in print on 23 November 1854, in Wide West published in San Francisco. It is a reference to the practice of saloons giving free meals to attract clientele. Of course the savings is illusory as the price of the drinks subsidizes the food.

The exact phrase, there ain't no such thing as a free lunch, is also first used in the city by the bay in the 1 June 1949 edition of the San Francisco News (although this is claimed to be a reprint of a 1938 editorial so it may be even older, but the original has not been found).

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But is the phrase true, in your experience? What was the closest you came to getting a free lunch? And the nastiest sting in the tail when you thought you were getting one?
Rod

No such thing as free drinks either. There was a legend that J.P. Morgan went into a bar near Wall Street, and said loudly: "When Morgan drinks, everybody drinks!"
A crowd surged up to the bar, and were served drinks.

Then Morgan slapped down a single gold coin, and proclaimed: "When Morgan pays, everybody pays!" And left.

rodward asks, is the phrase true, in your experience?

At the risk of being excoriated by AnnaS for (re)stating the obvious, I'll point out that someone is always paying for the lunch and that person is sure to try to get the payment out of the eater of the lunch one way or another.

In a restaurant where I once had dinner, a sign read "There's no such thing as lunch" and in the men's room of the same establishment another, 'anagramatic,' sign read "must wash hands before leaving employees"

Ah the trick is to find a lunch (that has a barb-!) and eat lunch with out the "barb".

Metropolitan Life insurance, at its headquarters (the old met life towers at 23rd and Madison) offered "free lunch" to their employees-- but they had an unpaid lunch hour-- so standard NY hours 9 to 5- left them getting paid for 35 hours a week-- most employees took 1/2 lunches and worked 8:30 to 5 or 9 to 5:30-- to work a 40 hour week.
The company had it figured-- it was cheaper to give lunch than hire more employees (what with benefits, etc.) So "free lunch" allowed employess to volluntarily forgo a lunch "Hour" (theirs by rights, according to NY labor law).

I used to work in the Met life building-- on contract to an other company (xerox) I had a Met life ID badge (but if you looked closely, you could see it said "contractor" -- but the badge got me into the cafeteria-- I got free lunch-- and could still have my "hour". Met life was/ is not the only company to offer free lunch. Many big brokerage houses do to, so that brokers will stay at their desks, and eat in-- (most have "Kitchens" but not eating areas). and Philip Morris does has "discount" lunch. (and the perq of 2 free cartons of cigarettes to every employee/contractor every month!)

In all these cases, Contractors do really get the free lunch.
Philip Morris, has almost every room in there headquarters building on 42nd and Lex (Commander Pershing Square) designated a "smoking area". The Xerox tech rep who was regularly assigned there, had his office (an closet really, about 3 meters by 1.5 meters, and no windows) designated "a Non Smoking Room" .

Are you sure about that? I know Heinlein used the line -- but I think its older than that.


Damn, but I'm sharp today - I win again! First NicholasW confirms my wild guess about Tandoori, and now my meticulously careful phrasing of my respons to the initial query in this thread has been vindicated. Like everyone who has responded subsequently, I felt certain that the phrase "ther's no such thing as a free lunch" would have been around before Heinlein. Hence, I was very careful in my phrasing. I quote:
TANSTAAFL was coined by Robert Heinlein in his book, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Thanks for playing and come on back anytime. Although at 2 for 2, I think I should quit while I'm ahead.