Bryan Alexander"I was explaining to my Ukrainian colleague the phrase ‘There’s no such thing as a free lunch’. She told me the equivalent in Ukrainian is ‘The only free cheese is in the mousetrap’ - which is so much better"
-found on Bluesky
Doc AWFL*@bryanalexandee omg I love this!
Dima@bryanalexandee There's also a twist on the "To have your cake and eat it too." which in Ukrainian can be said as "To eat the fish and to sit on a dick." Which I often feel much better describes the situation. It shows that one doesn't only want to benefit without sacrifice but to go to extreme lengths of hypocrisy, indecency, or absurd contradiction to get everything they want.
O'Schell@dimin @bryanalexandee The french equivalent is "to want the butter, the monney of the butter (and the ass) of the dairywoman/farmer"
Wildduck
FreddyB Aviation Photography@bryanalexandee brilliant absolutely brilliant
Minnesota 123456Perfect METAphor for the so-called free services offered on behalf of surveillance capitalism.
Anja@bryanalexandee So much better. 😅
In Dutch we say: "voor niets gaat de zon op". Which literally translates to "for nothing the sun rises" or better still "only the sun rises for free".
I'd love to hear versions from other languages.
Henryk Plötz@HeyLaiverd @bryanalexandee German has "von nichts kommt nichts" ('from nothing comes nothing', or 'nothing comes from nothing') which is not quite the same.
*However*, we *do* have the opposite: "Einem geschenkten Gaul schaut man nicht ins Maul" ('Don't look into the mouth of a horse that's been given as a gift') where looking into the mouth is meant as a way to check its teeth to check the horse's quality/age/health.
So if you get something for free, don't be too critical about it.
Ysegrim@henryk @HeyLaiverd @bryanalexandee I love the Ripuarian (Cologne region) dialect versions:
"Von nix kütt nix"
"Ömesöns es dä Dud" (Only death is free of charge)
"Wat nix koss, es och nix" (If it doesn't come with a cost, it's nothing)
"Von nix kütt nix"
"Ömesöns es dä Dud" (Only death is free of charge)
"Wat nix koss, es och nix" (If it doesn't come with a cost, it's nothing)
Flexi Bell 
@ysegrim @henryk @HeyLaiverd @bryanalexandee
Die deutsche Entsprechungt hierfür ist eher: "Ohne Fleiß kein Preis." ("Von nichts kommt nichts.")
@bryanalexandee @ysegrim @henryk @HeyLaiverd
=> No pain, no gain.
@bryanalexandee @ysegrim @henryk @HeyLaiverd
So not to be confused here:
That's indeed another saying than ‘There’s no such thing as a free lunch’.
@flexi @ysegrim @henryk @HeyLaiverd Sorry - I saw that translation and was trying to push my meagre German further.
Der Teilweise@henryk @HeyLaiverd @bryanalexandee The German equivalent is: “Nichts im Leben ist umsonst, nur der Tod – und der kostet das Leben.” (Nothing in life is free, only death - and that costs life.)
Tobias@henryk @HeyLaiverd @bryanalexandee My Grandma had a great way of humbling someone bragging about an expensive item "Kannich mehr wert sein, sonst würd's mehr kosten" ("Can't be worth more, otherwise it would cost more").
I always had a good laugh.
Another one was "Der Wohltätigkeit sind nach oben keine Grenzen gesetzt" ("There's no upper limit to charity"), meaning: you can always pay more for somehing, but is it worth it?
Henning Paul DC4HP@henryk @HeyLaiverd @bryanalexandee I wouldn't suggest "Nichts ist umsonst, nicht mal der Tod, denn der kostet das Leben":
"there is no free thing, not even death, because that costs your life".
"there is no free thing, not even death, because that costs your life".
@HeyLaiverd Very good.
Žygis@bryanalexandee Actually, it's "Free cheese is only in mousetraps".
@ZealousBool
Can you share the original, please? I might be able to make sense of it.
Can you share the original, please? I might be able to make sense of it.
@bryanalexandee Безкоштовний сир буває тільки в мишоловці.
Mousetrap here is singular. I confused singular locative with plural nominative. 🤷 (and was biased cause it's plural in my native tongue) sorry!
@ZealousBool большое спасибо!
The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
Frank Bennett 🇯🇵@bryanalexandee ただ程高い物はない。
"Nothing is more expensive than free stuff."
Su_GThe Ukrainian saying: ‘The only free cheese is in the mousetrap’ needs to be popularised & I’m up for it. 🙂
ArkadiiIt's american actually.
Then soviets started using it, that's how it got to Ukraine.
Original, according to prof. Harry Walter:
1962 Dispatch [Lexington NC 2 Jun.: “Mousetraps furnish free cheese. But the mouse´s
happiness there is no short-lived. For mice and men there is no such thing as a free lunch.”
Then soviets started using it, that's how it got to Ukraine.
Original, according to prof. Harry Walter:
1962 Dispatch [Lexington NC 2 Jun.: “Mousetraps furnish free cheese. But the mouse´s
happiness there is no short-lived. For mice and men there is no such thing as a free lunch.”
Kevin Lyda@bryanalexandee I think this should be the phrase in English now!
Ravensrod 🫖 🍰@bryanalexandee
The early bird catches the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
The early bird catches the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
Tim Ward ⭐🇪🇺🔶 #FBPE@bryanalexandee A company I worked for put on a free lunch to celebrate something-or-other, I forget which. We were each allowed to invite a couple of mates.
One of the people I invited was a journalist (whom I'd known since we were students). She had great difficulty believing that it really was just a free lunch, and that she really wasn't expected to write anything about us in return.
Handler Skyler@bryanalexandee @mos_8502 The US one is Alcohol related, which is fitting. The Ukrainian is direct
@bryanalexandee French people have a saying that is pretty strait-forward:
"If you it's free, you'r the product"
"If you it's free, you'r the product"
@OSchell
We have that in English. It dates back to the 1970s and concerns tv:
https://bryanalexander.org/digital-literacy/you-are-the-product-one-interesting-source-for-the-meme/
We have that in English. It dates back to the 1970s and concerns tv:
https://bryanalexander.org/digital-literacy/you-are-the-product-one-interesting-source-for-the-meme/
@bryanalexandee The little plus in the French version is that it rhymes in a pretty catchy manner: "Si c'est gratuit, c'est toi le produit"
@OSchell C'est bien!
Troed Sångberg@bryanalexandee In Sweden we have "Gratis är gott", which translates to "Free is yummy".
... I'm starting to think we're missing something here.
@troed What a different worldview!
And hello to one of my favorite countries.
kanguru@troed @bryanalexandee and in turkish we have "beleş sirke baldan tatlıdır" which literally translates to "free vinegar is sweeter than honey", we miss the same point too i guess
@baykanguru @troed One old friend always says "stolen food tastes better."
オチュー (stop colonialism 🇵🇸)@bryanalexandee I also like the one that works best said in a devil cosplay "it's free but at a price"
cholling@bryanalexandee I first heard that version from the Tom Waits song "God's Away On Business."
@cholling Great song.
Sin Vega@bryanalexandee Scroobius pip: "you see a mousetrap; I see free cheese and a fucking challenge"
@bryanalexandee TIL this expression did not, in fact, come from the Reagan administration cutting back school lunch programs https://en.wikipedia.o...
(though the citation closest to what i had in mind is very close, but Hungary in the 2000s rather than America in the 1980s and definitely not the origin)
(though the citation closest to what i had in mind is very close, but Hungary in the 2000s rather than America in the 1980s and definitely not the origin)
@apophis
I first came across it in Heinlein.
I first came across it in Heinlein.
Unreed EN@bryanalexandee @FandaSin Should not count for education and school meal
@bryanalexandee @FandaSin Well I would apply that to fee university education too but for most of Americans it would make me look like communist 😅
@Unreeden It certainly would!
Michael Eggers 🇺🇦🇪🇺
Alice. 🇨🇦Love it!
Doug Baker - Elbows Up! 🇨🇦@bryanalexandee I like the modern internet updated version: "If it's free, then you're the product"