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There is such thing as a free lunch.

French translation: rien ne vaut un repas gratuit

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:There is such thing as a free lunch.
French translation:rien ne vaut un repas gratuit
Entered by: Lionel_M (X)

22:07 Nov 28, 2008
English to French translations [Non-PRO]
Marketing - Food & Drink
English term or phrase: There is such thing as a free lunch.
A twist on "There is not such thing as a free lunch" as a weekly drawing will take place to give away free meals. I was thinking of adapting this to say "Que diriez-vous d'un repas gratuit?" or "Un repas gratuit vous plairait?". I'd rather not use a question & I'm wondering if I'm loosing the "punch" here. Any idea or comment is truly appreciated. Thanks!
Lucie-Chantal Boucher (X)
Canada
Local time: 00:57
rien ne vaud un repas gratuit
Explanation:
suggestion (if I got the meaning......)
Selected response from:

Lionel_M (X)
Local time: 06:57
Grading comment
Merci!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +4Um repas gratuit? -- si, ça existe.
a05
5 +1un déjeuner gratuit, c'est possible!
carmaj
4Il est possible de manger gratuitement.
Jean-Claude Gouin
4 -1rien n'est gratuit ici-bas
Norman Patrick Grant
3 -1rien ne vaud un repas gratuit
Lionel_M (X)


  

Answers


5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -1
there is such thing as a free lunch.
rien ne vaud un repas gratuit


Explanation:
suggestion (if I got the meaning......)

Lionel_M (X)
Local time: 06:57
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 8
Grading comment
Merci!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Jean-Claude Gouin: vauT ...
28 mins
  -> Oui merci et pardon !
disagree  Tony M: No, I'm afraid you seem to have missed the point of the original saying, and so have misinterpreted this new version of it; it's not at all "there's nothing like a free lunch"
9 hrs
  -> Ok Tony. Thks for the info anyway
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34 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
there is such thing as a free lunch.
Il est possible de manger gratuitement.


Explanation:
*

Jean-Claude Gouin
Canada
Local time: 00:57
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Tony M: But rather weak, J-C, and somewhat misses the point of the original saying's being countered / Yes, I can see that you understood the original properly, but I just feel this doesn't stand well in opposition to it
8 hrs
  -> I fully understand the original saying ... You are a wise man, my friend, because you tend to question everything, to doubt everything ...
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8 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): -1
there is such thing as a free lunch.
rien n'est gratuit ici-bas


Explanation:
There's no such thing as a free lunch

Meaning

The economic theory, and also the lay opinion, that whatever goods and services are provided, they must be paid for by someone - i.e. you don't get something for nothing. The phrase is also known by the acronym of 'there ain't no such thing as a free lunch' -


    Reference: http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/tanstaafl.html
Norman Patrick Grant
Mauritius
Local time: 08:57
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  a05: Sorry but the wording in the question denies this common wisdom
22 mins
disagree  Tony M: That's the original saying, yes; but not the actual wording of the question.
49 mins
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8 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +4
there is such thing as a free lunch.
Um repas gratuit? -- si, ça existe.


Explanation:
...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 hrs (2008-11-29 06:59:09 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Un repas

a05
Native speaker of: Native in RussianRussian

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Tony M: Can't personally vouch for how this works in FR, but you've certainly accurately captured the meaning of the EN!
57 mins
  -> Thank you, it's a hard job to question common truths
agree  Maria-Betania Ferreira
1 hr
agree  Magali Laroudie
4 hrs
agree  Sabine Deutsch
11 hrs
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13 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
there is such thing as a free lunch.
un déjeuner gratuit, c'est possible!


Explanation:
if lunch is taken around midday, it is "déjeuner" in French, and "there is such thing" means "ça existe, ça se trouve", so "it is possible"

carmaj
France
Local time: 06:57
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Tony M: The original 'lunch' is being used entirely figuratively (metonymy), so I don't think the actual detail is that important; but the idea of denying the 'received wisdom' IS, however.
1 hr
agree  Sabine Deutsch: même si la version de a05 est certainement plus forte et plus proche de l'original, j'aime bien celle-ci aussi. Mais avec "repas"
5 hrs
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