the only free cheese is in the mouse trap
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Nothing is truly free, as everything has a cost or consequence.
không có gì là miễn phí thực sự, mọi thứ đều có chi phí hoặc hậu quả
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Examples
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “the only free cheese is in the mouse trap” mean?
Nothing is truly free, as everything has a cost or consequence. Literally: cheese that is free is found in a device that captures mice
Is “the only free cheese is in the mouse trap” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.