# The origin of the phrase "pay-as-you-go" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 15, 2001, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-the-phrase-pay-as-you-go/87464 "2001-10-15T07:40:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nadia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f19dbf/32.png) [@Nadia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nadia)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2001, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-the-phrase-pay-as-you-go/87464/1 "2001-10-15T07:40:17Z")
I am very much interested in the etimology of the phrase pay-as-you-go. It is frequently used describing pension system as opposite to funded. Could you help me to define the origin of this phrase? When did it appear and in what context was it used? Thank you very much for your help. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2001, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-the-phrase-pay-as-you-go/87464/2 "2001-10-15T11:27:30Z")
Hello **Nadia**. I don’t know the answer to your question but perhaps the following details may help a little. The expression _pay as you go_ is used mainly in relation to mobile telephone payment systems here in the UK. The customer buys a handset and then pays for airtime up front before using the service. _Pay as you go_ in the context of pension payments _may_ derive from _Pay As You Earn_, or PAYE. This is a system by which income tax levied on wage and salary earners is paid by employers directly to the government. This payment method was introduced to the UK public in 1944, although I’ll have to trust my encyclopaedia on this detail since I personally was not around at the time. 🙂 Welcome to the boards. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2001, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-the-phrase-pay-as-you-go/87464/3 "2001-10-15T12:02:26Z")
I doubt that this was the first use of the term, but Governor Harry Byrd of Virginia (governor during the early part of the 20th Century) called his fiscal policy “pay-as-you-go” in reference to not issuing bonds to pay for public improvements. Such improvements were only authorized when the actual cash was on hand to pay for them. ---
**Author:** ![Nadia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f19dbf/32.png) [@Nadia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nadia)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2001, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-the-phrase-pay-as-you-go/87464/4 "2001-10-15T12:07:36Z")
It seems to be a difficult question to answer, but your information is of use. Thank you for your welcome. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2001, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-the-phrase-pay-as-you-go/87464/5 "2001-10-15T16:55:28Z")
It was first introduced in Germany by Otto von Bismark in 1889. Western European nations were next to adopt the system and it was implemented in the US in 1935. Whether von Bismark named the method _pay-as-you-go_, or the German equivalent, I cannot say. I hope this helps. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-the-phrase-pay-as-you-go/87464/6 "2001-10-16T02:04:24Z")
My Mathews _Dictionary of Americanisms_ which is the Bible on American phrases(at least in the alphabet from p-z), says different. 1840, _Farmer’s Cabinet_ “Pay as you go…is the truest economy.” The next cite is from 1874. So, if Bismark adopted it, it was from a much earlier origin. ---
**Author:** ![Nadia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f19dbf/32.png) [@Nadia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nadia)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-the-phrase-pay-as-you-go/87464/7 "2001-10-16T12:35:57Z")
Probably, someone could help me to find internet versions of the similar dictionaries. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-the-phrase-pay-as-you-go/87464/8 "2001-10-16T14:25:25Z")
This is just [one of the sources](http://www.cascadepolicy.org/ss/kansas.htm) which credit Otto. Paragraph 7. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2001, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-the-phrase-pay-as-you-go/87464/9 "2001-10-17T01:29:30Z")
**Nadia** If you meant “What is the origin of the pay-as-you-go” phrase in regards to pension systems, then I think **Nostradamus** is correct. I read too quickly, and only thought you wished to know the origin of the “phrase.” ---
**Author:** ![Nadia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f19dbf/32.png) [@Nadia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nadia)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2001, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-the-phrase-pay-as-you-go/87464/10 "2001-10-17T06:45:41Z")
As I am somehow involved in the process of reforming pension system in Russia, it is interesting to know the origin of the phrase regarding pension systems. But I am also curious about philological aspect: who invented the phrase? I think there must be a person who was the first to use it. Probably initially it was used (and maybe is now used)in some other context besides economic.