• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Language / Where Did the Expression “Bang For the Buck” Come From and What Does the Idiom Mean?

Where Did the Expression “Bang For the Buck” Come From and What Does the Idiom Mean?

May 26, 2020 by Karen Hill

“Bang for the buck” means getting the most for the amount you have paid.

The phrase is a Cold War military expression with sinister suggestions of atomic and other explosive devices.

Before the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, the United States and its allies in the West were engaged in a series of confrontations and skirmishes with the former Soviet Union and its satellite states.

“Bang for the buck” described how efficiently the American defense, and offense, budgets were being spent.

As poet and playwright T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) wrote in “The Hollow Men” in 1925,

“This is the way the world ends/Not with a bang but a whimper.”

Related Facts

  • What Does the Expression "Have Your Cake and Eat it Too" Mean and Where Did the Idiom Come From?
  • What Does the Expression "Straight and Narrow" Mean and Where Did the Idiom Come From?
  • Where Did the Expression "It's Raining Cats and Dogs" Come From and What Does the Idiom Mean?
  • What Does the Expression "For the Birds" Mean and Where Did the Idiom Come From?
  • What Does the Expression "Rob Peter to Pay Paul" Mean and Where did the Idiom Come From?
  • What Does the Expression "In the Nick of Time" Mean and Where Did the Idiom Come From?
  • What Does the Expression "Bottom of the Totem Pole" Mean and Where Did the Idiom Come From?
  • Where Did the Expression "Don't Shoot the Messenger" Come From and What Does the Idiom Mean?
  • Where Did the Expression "At the End of His Rope" Come From and What Does the Idiom Mean?
  • What Does the Expression "Clean Bill of Health" Mean and Where Did the Idiom Come From?
  • What Does the Expression "Read Between the Lines" Mean and Where Did the Idiom Come From?
  • What Does the Expression "The Upper Hand" Mean and Where Did the Idiom Come From?

Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « What Does the Expression “Pillage and Plunder” Mean and Where Did the Word “Ransack” Come From?
Next Post: What Does the Phrase “The Real Skinny” Mean and Where Did the Saying For the Truth Come From? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2021 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy