idiom: no strings attached


I have another good idiom for you today: “no strings attached”. It is used when we want to say we will do something for another person without expecting to receive anything in return. For example:

My friend lent me his car last weekend with no strings attached. He’s such a nice guy!

A: I can help you move this weekend if you’d like me to.

B: Really? What do you want in return?

A: Nothing. No strings attached. I just want to do something nice for you.


A: The boss just gave me the day off tomorrow. No strings attached!

B: Really? That’s amazing! Why did he do that?

A: He said it was because I’ve been working really hard lately.

In the case of this expressions, the “strings” represent the conditions under which someone will do something for you. So, if there are “strings” in the first example, the friend might expect to borrow something else from the person in exchange for the use of their car. In the last example, the boss might expect the employee to work on another day when they aren’t supposed to work. However, in these cases, there are “no strings”, so nothing is expected.


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