Why buy a cow when you can get milk for free?
Why buy a/the cow when you can get (the) milk for free?
1. proverb If someone is already able to obtain some commodity or benefit freely or easily, then they won't be inclined to pay for the source of it. The ability to read the news for free from countless websites on the Internet has dealt a huge blow to the newspaper industry. After all, why buy a cow when you can get milk for free?
2. proverb If a man is already having sexual intercourse with his partner, then he won't be inclined to commit to marriage. There are myriad reasons why I don't want to get married, but my girlfriend thinks my stance boils down to "Why buy a cow when you can get the milk for free?"
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
Why buy a cow when you can get milk for free?
and Why buy a cow when milk is so cheap?Prov. Why pay for something that you can get for free otherwise. (Sometimes used to describe someone who will not marry because sex without any commitment is so easy to obtain. Jocular and crude.) I don't have a car because someone always gives me a ride to work. Why buy a cow when you can get milk for free? Mary told her daughter, "You may think that boy will marry you because you're willing to sleep with him, but why should he buy a cow if he can get milk for free?"
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.