no strings attached
English edit
Alternative forms edit
- NSA (initialism)
Etymology edit
According to one source,[1] the origin of this phrase is from the cloth industry, where a small flaw in a fabric would be marked by a string so it could easily be spotted. This suggests a meaning of "without flaws".
In ancient times, documents that were written on parchment had strings that were used to tie them shut, after they were rolled up. The Babylonian Talmud in Tractate Bava Metzi'a[2] mentions an example of a man who gives his wife a get (bill of divorce) with a string attached, but holds on to the string, so that he can snatch it back (apparently because he is unwilling to actually give her a divorce). According to Jewish law, this is not a valid divorce, because the man has not properly delivered the get, by freely giving it to his wife.
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Adjective edit
no strings attached (not comparable)
- (often hyphenated) Characterized by an absence of conditions or obligations.
- 2009 February 19, Vivian Salama, “Pakistan and China: A Fraying Friendship?”, in Time:
- Since then, Beijing has often offered its support to Islamabad in the way of economic assistance, but also with no-strings-attached military aid.
- 2020 November 18, Richard Clinnick, “Network News: Emergency funding package of up to £1.8bn agreed for TfL”, in Rail, page 15:
- He also criticised what he called the Government's "bailout" of the privatised rail companies with no strings attached, stating: "There is simply no reason why the same easy solution could not have been applied to London, [...]."
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Adverb edit
no strings attached (not comparable)
- (idiomatic) Without conditions or obligations; without a catch.
- For a friend, I'll help out for free, no strings attached.
- 1902, Jack London, chapter 21, in A Daughter of the Snows[2]:
- Listen. We've kept it quiet, but she's in with the elect on French Hill. Her claim's prospected the richest of the outfit. Present indication half a million at least. In her own name, no strings attached. Couldn't she take that and go anywhere in the world and reinstate herself?
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References edit
- ^ “Archived copy”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)[1], 2008 May 14 (last accessed), archived from the original on 17 May 2008
- ^ Epstein, Isadore (1986) Tractate Baba Metzi'a, London: The Soncino Press
- “no strings attached”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.