This is actually an original phrase from me (Jeff Keegan),
that I
coined on September 20, 2001. I had just had a dream where at one point
I was sitting down with some guy and his two kids. He mentioned some sports
game that he wished he'd been able to go to, and for some reason I kinda
nodded like I'd been there. "Really?! How was it?!" he asked, and like
an idiot I had to wade through my lie.
He was interested or enthused because of something I pretended to know about,
share, or recognize, but I didn't (however offhandedly I had claimed to).
His juices got flowing about the conversation because he thought I
had something interesting to contribute that he appreciated.
I didn't, and I hadn't earned that enthusiasm/interest.
I was taking the juice for free.
The strangest part about this phrase, once we started using it, people would
confess to this casual lying more easily. Since there was a less-harsh
term than "lie", it was easy to say "ok, I admit it, I was taking the juice
for free - I have no idea what you're talking about", and there's less
pretending going on now! Also, people (not wanting to take the juice for
free) will be honest about saying things like "Ok, I don't know what
blahblahblah is...", rather than nodding their heads through a long boring
discussion.
DON'T TAKE THE JUICE FOR FREE! AND CALL PEOPLE ON WHEN THEY DO IT!!
Spread the word! keegan.org/juice
For my birthday, my brother Jon surprised me with this illustration
he created. Thanks Jon!!
Latest Info
Oren Katzeff (a friend of a friend of my brothers'), upon seeing this,
wrote this Seinfeld episode describing 'Taking The Juice For Free'
(This space reserved for when Taking The Juice For Free is mentioned on Letterman, Conan,
or Saturday Night Live. )
)
