# What does "money for nothing and kicks for free" mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 17, 2013, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-money-for-nothing-and-kicks-for-free-mean/671455 "2013-10-17T02:33:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-money-for-nothing-and-kicks-for-free-mean/671455/21 "2013-10-17T07:45:49Z")
> [@davidmich](#): > > Actually quite a few news articles use the phrase “money for nothing, kicks for free”. . . The word “chicks” to refer to women is non-PC enough that most news agencies would avoid using it in headlines and articles. ---
**Author:** ![Glazer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e57/32.png) [@Glazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glazer)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-money-for-nothing-and-kicks-for-free-mean/671455/22 "2013-10-17T07:50:41Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > Well, yes and no. Whilst “faggot” does indeed mean all of the things you mention in British English (additionally a faggot is a type of meatball), there’s no doubt that Knopfler is using the term in its derogatory sense, and would be understood as such by virtually all British people. > [@si\_blakely](#): > > The British use faggot and fag in multiple ways - a faggot can also be a sort of skinless offal-containing sausage/meatball, and a fag can be a younger student at a public school (I.e. a private boarding school) who is used by an older student as a personal assistant/batman (including implied homosexual overtones in some cases). This allows suitable double entendres on “fag”. > > However, in the context of the 80s and the song “Money for Nothing”, it is pretty clear that the sense of faggot being used is a derisive term for a successful gay/androgynous performer (think Boy George or Elton John, or maybe one of the New Romantics). The notes that Knopfler made for the song were made in New York, as I recall, so the US sense is the most appropriate. The whole verse is excised from later releases of the song on collections. > > I like performing the song in an acoustic fashion - I use “a-hole” (a less homophobic insult) in that verse. I always thought it was derogatory. Just thought it wasn’t as bad as the American usage. On par with calling someone a longhair. Never knew about the sausage or student uses. Thanks for the info. Learn something new everyday. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-money-for-nothing-and-kicks-for-free-mean/671455/23 "2013-10-17T11:36:26Z")
Knopfler used ‘faggot’ in the lyrics because he tends to avoid vulgar language whenever possible. When the appliance store guy was on his rant, he was using ‘f\*cker’ instead. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-money-for-nothing-and-kicks-for-free-mean/671455/24 "2013-10-17T12:00:53Z")
I think _Brothers In Arms_ was the last vinyl LP I bought. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-money-for-nothing-and-kicks-for-free-mean/671455/25 "2013-10-17T12:35:56Z")
> [@davidmich](#): > > Actually quite a few news articles use the phrase “money for nothing, kicks for free” which seems to suggest that the phrase has the meaning of getting something for doing relatively little in return/doing little to merit the wages received. > > [http://www.bmj.com/content/332/7549/1096.4?tab=responses](http://www.bmj.com/content/332/7549/1096.4?tab=responses) > > davidmich That page you link to is a commentary on National Health Service - the title is nothing more than a play on words - a paraphrase, given the very well-known nature of the phrase from the song. It would be like finding an article on Healthcare Reform in the US that takes the saying “penny wise and pound foolish” and changes it to “penny wise and healthcare foolish” or something like that. It has no meaning as a standalone phrase - it is a writer taking a familiar phrase and modifying it to their needs. So the “kicks for free” variation is nothing more than a paraphrase used for this write-up and it has whatever meaning the writer wanted it to have when he/she made it up. Does that make sense? ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-money-for-nothing-and-kicks-for-free-mean/671455/26 "2013-10-17T12:39:15Z")
Gotta admit, the Brits get a LOT of mileage out of their words. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-money-for-nothing-and-kicks-for-free-mean/671455/27 "2013-10-17T13:20:16Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Gotta admit, the Brits get a LOT of mileage out of their words. ‘When I make a word do a lot of work like that,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘I always pay it extra.’ ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-money-for-nothing-and-kicks-for-free-mean/671455/28 "2013-10-17T13:42:37Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > For the record, “kicks” can mean pleasure, enjoyment, whatever turns you on. > > I refer to the classic lyrics “Get your kicks on Route 66.” > > It’s a bit dated (I associate it largely with the beatniks of the 1950s), but I don’t think it’s disappeared from common use entirely. Kicks just keep gettin’ harder to find. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-money-for-nothing-and-kicks-for-free-mean/671455/29 "2013-10-17T13:47:00Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Kicks just keep gettin’ harder to find. Unless they’re Pumped Up Kicks. Or perhaps Teenage Kicks\* 😉 \*Teenage Kicks a punk single by the Undertones was a hit, but more importantly, it was legendary UK DJ John Peel’s favorite song - heck, I suspect the song’s reputation rests more on that than being a hit back in the day… ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-money-for-nothing-and-kicks-for-free-mean/671455/30 "2013-10-17T13:49:33Z")
But when you find out it’s too late, girl you better get straight. Not helping much. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-money-for-nothing-and-kicks-for-free-mean/671455/31 "2013-10-17T14:01:27Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Of course the “little faggot” being referred to is the singer and songwriter, Mark Knopfler, himself. I don’t think it is politically incorrect to call yourself a faggot (even if you are actually straight, which he is, AFAIK). Surely this like African Americans calling each other by the N word. I always assumed he was poking fun at Boy George with that lyric. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-money-for-nothing-and-kicks-for-free-mean/671455/32 "2013-10-17T14:25:14Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > I always assumed he was poking fun at Boy George with that lyric. IIRC, the early 80s was when you first started to see things like earrings and makeup and styled hair on a lot of male pop/rock performers, especially in “New Wave” bands. It was a look that became fairly common at that time but which a blue-collar, Archie Bunker-type guy would have considered effeminate or “faggoty.” ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-money-for-nothing-and-kicks-for-free-mean/671455/33 "2013-10-17T14:30:44Z")
I think you’re forgetting Ziggy Stardust? And Marc Bolan, Gary Glitter, Roxy Music… pretty much all the glam bands, really. And Kiss and the New York Dolls. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-money-for-nothing-and-kicks-for-free-mean/671455/34 "2013-10-17T14:34:41Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I think you’re forgetting Ziggy Stardust? And Marc Bolan, Gary Glitter, Roxy Music… pretty much all the glam bands, really. And Kiss and the New York Dolls. Yeah, maybe I am. (KISS is a special case—not the same kind of makeup we’re talking about—)but maybe those acts you mention, or at least their appearances, wouldn’t have been on Mr. Blue Collar Guy’s radar back in the pre-MTV days. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-money-for-nothing-and-kicks-for-free-mean/671455/35 "2013-10-17T14:35:44Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > . . . “Money for nothing and kicks for free” would therefore make perfect sense in any context. The shift reminds me of my son, when the song came out, being embarrassed to say “chicks” in front of his mom. He shifted to “checks” and blushed a little. He’d have been around six. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-money-for-nothing-and-kicks-for-free-mean/671455/36 "2013-10-17T14:50:23Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Kicks just keep gettin’ harder to find. I know what you did there. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-money-for-nothing-and-kicks-for-free-mean/671455/37 "2013-10-17T14:53:00Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Yeah, maybe I am. > > (KISS is a special case—not the same kind of makeup we’re talking about—)but maybe those acts you mention, or at least their appearances, wouldn’t have been on Mr. Blue Collar Guy’s radar back in the pre-MTV days. The Ziggy persona (and look) is pretty much how David Bowie got famous, IIRC, and Bolan/T-Rex and Gary Glitter were pretty well known. KISS grew into something a bit more extreme but at the beginning they were basically just cribbing the NYD. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-money-for-nothing-and-kicks-for-free-mean/671455/38 "2013-10-17T14:57:46Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > I always assumed he was poking fun at Boy George with that lyric. I heard it was Prince. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-money-for-nothing-and-kicks-for-free-mean/671455/39 "2013-10-17T16:28:51Z")
Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe claimed in an interview that Knopfler and the delivery guy were watching his band’s videos in the store and that they were who the guy was commenting about with the “faggot” comments. (Actually, according to Knopfler, the guy was saying “fucker.” Knopfler changed it to something that was less likely to be censored for airplay.) Also, Knopfler wanted to duplicate Billy Gibbons’ guitar sound with ZZ Top and solicited Gibbons’ advice on getting the sound. ZZ Top’s “Eliminator” album had just been released and videos for such songs as “Gimme All Your Lovin’” and “Sharp Dressed Man” were in heavy rotation on MTV. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-money-for-nothing-and-kicks-for-free-mean/671455/40 "2013-10-17T16:35:19Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe claimed in an interview that Knopfler and the delivery guy were watching his band’s videos in the store and that they were who the guy was commenting about with the “faggot” comments. (Actually, according to Knopfler, the guy was saying “fucker.” Knopfler changed it to something that was less likely to be censored for airplay.) > > Also, Knopfler wanted to duplicate Billy Gibbons’ guitar sound with ZZ Top and solicited Gibbons’ advice on getting the sound. ZZ Top’s “Eliminator” album had just been released and videos for such songs as “Gimme All Your Lovin’” and “Sharp Dressed Man” were in heavy rotation on MTV. Knopfler ended up a fan of Les Paul’s and has an original sunburst '58 or '59 he used on that song. He also gritted-up his sound and started on a long relationship, ultimately, with Komet amps. I’ve played a couple - amazing. **Robot Arm, Ranger Jeff** - I can feel the whoosh over my head. What’s the reference? “Kicks just keep gettin’ harder to find” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-money-for-nothing-and-kicks-for-free-mean/671455.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-money-for-nothing-and-kicks-for-free-mean/671455.md?page=3)