lunch [E19th] Until the 19th century a light midday meal was a luncheon [L16th], and when the shortened form lunch appeared in the 1820s people regarded it as either lower-class or a fashionable affectation. Luncheon first appears in 1580 in this sense, and was probably formed from, obsolete late 16th-century lunch ‘thick piece, hunk’, which was probably derived from Spanish lonja ‘slice’. Lunch then became a light meal or snack in the mid 17th century, before becoming a full meal in the 19th century. See also lady, supper. The modern proverb there’s no such thing as a free lunch, was used in the 1950s among US economists, although there are earlier variants. It was probably suggested by the practice, dating from the mid 19th century, of some bars providing free lunch if you bought a drink.