TANSTAAFL

What Does TANSTAAFL Mean in a Text?

The Quick Answer

TANSTAAFL (There Ain't No Such Things As a Free Lunch) means it is impossible to get something for nothing (which is the core tenet of all economics).

More Detail...

The term TANSTAAFL was popularized by economist Milton Friedman's 1975 book "There's no such thing as free lunch." On social-media platforms, TANSTAAFL is most commonly used as a response to someone complaining about having to work hard for something they want.

Image for TANSTAAFL

When I write TANSTAAFL, I mean this:

The image shows stroppy teenager Kevin (created by Harry Enfield) whining about not getting something for nothing.

Summary of Key Points

We have summarized the key points in the table below:

TANSTAAFL
Definition:	There Ain't No Such Thing as a Free Lunch
Type:	Abbreviation
Guessability:	3: Guessable
Typical Users:	Adults and Teenagers

Example of TANSTAAFL in a Sentence

Here is an example of TANSTAAFL in a sentence:

• Tony: Cleaning cars is so boring, but it's only way I'll get my own one.
• Jordan: TANSTAAFL, young Jedi.
• Tony: Unfortunately, that's true!

An Academic Look at TANSTAAFL

TANSTAAFL is an acronym (i.e., an abbreviation spoken like a word). Acronyms differ from initialism abbreviations, which are pronounced using their individual letters. Of note, TANSTAAFL is grammatically incorrect as it is a double negative (like "I ain't got no money"). The correct version of TANSTAAFL is TINSTAAFL (There Is No Such Things As a Free Lunch), which is also an acronym. Another popular version is the initialism TNSTAAFL (There's No Such Things As a Free Lunch). The words "There ain't no such thing as..." are commonly used to offer advice, seemingly from the perspective of an uneducated person, suggesting that everybody (even the uneducated) knows the assertion is true.

Example of TANSTAAFL Used in a Text

Example of TANSTAAFL in a Sentence

Here is an example of TANSTAAFL in a sentence:

• Tony: Cleaning cars is so boring, but it's only way I'll get my own one.
• Jordan: TANSTAAFL, young Jedi.
• Tony: Unfortunately, that's true!

An Academic Look at TANSTAAFL

TANSTAAFL is an acronym (i.e., an abbreviation spoken like a word). Acronyms differ from initialism abbreviations, which are pronounced using their individual letters. Of note, TANSTAAFL is grammatically incorrect as it is a double negative (like "I ain't got no money"). The correct version of TANSTAAFL is TINSTAAFL (There Is No Such Things As a Free Lunch), which is also an acronym. Another popular version is the initialism TNSTAAFL (There's No Such Things As a Free Lunch). The words "There ain't no such thing as..." are commonly used to offer advice, seemingly from the perspective of an uneducated person, suggesting that everybody (even the uneducated) knows the assertion is true.

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