no strings attached
without any preconditions
TRANSLATION
no strings attached = bedingungslos, ohne Auflagen --- GOOGLE INDEX no strings attached: approximately 400,000 hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
On Sunday, Burma's Prime Minister Thein Sein clarified that all aid and aid workers were welcome on the provision that they came WITH NO STRINGS ATTACHED.
(Deutsche Welle English site)
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Unlike traditional partnerships between business and academia, in which companies that provide funds have the right to commercialize any breakthroughs, most of these funds come WITH NO STRINGS ATTACHED.
(The International Herald Tribune)
(Deutsche Welle English site)
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Unlike traditional partnerships between business and academia, in which companies that provide funds have the right to commercialize any breakthroughs, most of these funds come WITH NO STRINGS ATTACHED.
(The International Herald Tribune)
Did you
know?
WORD ORIGIN
There are a couple of thoughts about the origin of "no strings attached" (usually expressed as "with no strings attached" or "there are no strings attached").
One theory is that it refers back to an children's trick often seen in older movies and cartoons, in which a wallet is placed on the ground somewhere with a hard-to-see string attached to it. As soon as someone tries to pick it up, the trickster pulls the string to retract the wallet before the unsuspecting party can grab it.
Another possibility is that relates to the simple animal trap, which is a cage or box propped up by a stick with a string tied to it. The animal is lured by placing food under the cage/box. When it tries to get the food, the string is pulled to remove the stick and the trap falls onto the surprised animal.
Here are some other phrases with the word string:
- tied to your mother's apron strings = If someone (usually a man) is tied to their mother's apron strings, they still need their mother and cannot think or act independently (He's 30 but he's still tied to his mother's apron strings.)
- another string to your bow (British & Australian) = an extra skill or qualification which you can use if you cannot use your main one (If you can speak Spanish as well as English, it's another string to your bow.)
- hold the purse strings = to control the spending of a family's or an organisation's money (In our house it was my mother who held the purse strings.)
- tighten/loosen the purse strings = to reduce or increase the amount of money that can be spent (If the economy gets any weaker, it will be necessary for the government to tighten the national purse strings still further. We need to loosen the purse strings and make some strategic investments.)
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SYNONYMS
unconditional, unqualified, unreserved
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SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:
"We need to read this agreement carefully to make sure there are no strings attached."
There are a couple of thoughts about the origin of "no strings attached" (usually expressed as "with no strings attached" or "there are no strings attached").
One theory is that it refers back to an children's trick often seen in older movies and cartoons, in which a wallet is placed on the ground somewhere with a hard-to-see string attached to it. As soon as someone tries to pick it up, the trickster pulls the string to retract the wallet before the unsuspecting party can grab it.
Another possibility is that relates to the simple animal trap, which is a cage or box propped up by a stick with a string tied to it. The animal is lured by placing food under the cage/box. When it tries to get the food, the string is pulled to remove the stick and the trap falls onto the surprised animal.
Here are some other phrases with the word string:
- tied to your mother's apron strings = If someone (usually a man) is tied to their mother's apron strings, they still need their mother and cannot think or act independently (He's 30 but he's still tied to his mother's apron strings.)
- another string to your bow (British & Australian) = an extra skill or qualification which you can use if you cannot use your main one (If you can speak Spanish as well as English, it's another string to your bow.)
- hold the purse strings = to control the spending of a family's or an organisation's money (In our house it was my mother who held the purse strings.)
- tighten/loosen the purse strings = to reduce or increase the amount of money that can be spent (If the economy gets any weaker, it will be necessary for the government to tighten the national purse strings still further. We need to loosen the purse strings and make some strategic investments.)
---
SYNONYMS
unconditional, unqualified, unreserved
---
SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:
"We need to read this agreement carefully to make sure there are no strings attached."
