# How true is the saying: Time to Lean - Time to Clean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 6, 2025, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-true-is-the-saying-time-to-lean-time-to-clean/1023711 "2025-10-06T01:59:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2025, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-true-is-the-saying-time-to-lean-time-to-clean/1023711/41 "2025-10-07T20:49:09Z")
The origin of the saying is attributed to Ray Kroc, 1902-1984, CEO of McDonald’s. Most of my 100 first year students this semester knew the saying. Czarcasm is right: by extension, it applies to lots of jobs outside of retail and fast food. Think of it as a version of the military sentiment that if your unit does a great job, you don’t go home, you get a new map. (I believe I encountered this usage in one of Lee Child’s military manuals.) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2025, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-true-is-the-saying-time-to-lean-time-to-clean/1023711/42 "2025-10-07T21:02:57Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > (I blurred because they don’t pay me for advertisement) You also muffed the link. Here it is correctly: **[Original Vintage Tiles – B&W Tile Co.](https://www.bwtile.com/)** ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2025, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-true-is-the-saying-time-to-lean-time-to-clean/1023711/43 "2025-10-07T21:09:33Z")
Yes..I realized it was screwed up after the edit thingy quit. I couldn’t figure out how to fix it. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2025, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-true-is-the-saying-time-to-lean-time-to-clean/1023711/44 "2025-10-07T21:27:07Z")
Happy to help. That new WYSIWYG editor often makes a hash out of URLs that have special characters like & or () in them. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2025, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-true-is-the-saying-time-to-lean-time-to-clean/1023711/45 "2025-10-07T22:36:24Z")
+100. I was very happy to learn i could turn off the wysiwyg feature. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2025, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-true-is-the-saying-time-to-lean-time-to-clean/1023711/46 "2025-10-08T06:14:52Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Seems like I’ve seen it in hospitals and hotels. Maybe even a public restroom. I lived in staff housing for a while as a kid. Our home bathroom/toilet had the curved edges and corners. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2025, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-true-is-the-saying-time-to-lean-time-to-clean/1023711/47 "2025-10-08T06:30:13Z")
Its validity is in direct relation to the nearness of your income to minimum wage, and in inverse relation to the number of times per day you say it to somebody else. So, for a manager who makes double minimum wage and says it to someone else twice per day it will be 400% UNtrue (aka -400% true or a quadruple falsitude). But for a person making minimum wage who never says it to someone else it will be 100% true. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-true-is-the-saying-time-to-lean-time-to-clean/1023711.md?page=2)