Bang for the buck - wikipedia Bang for the buck This article is about the idiom. For the album by the band Ugly Duckling, see Bang for the Buck. Bang for the buck is an idiom meaning the worth of one 's money or exertion. The phrase originated from the slang usage of the words `` bang '' which means `` excitement '' and `` buck '' which means `` money ''. Variations of the term include `` bang for your buck, '' `` bang for one 's buck, '' `` more bang for the buck, '' `` bigger bang for the buck, '' and mixings of these. `` More bang for the buck '' was preceded by `` more bounce to the ounce '', an advertising slogan used in 1950 to market the carbonated soft drink Pepsi. The phrase `` bigger bang for the buck '' was notably used by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower 's Secretary of Defense, Charles Erwin Wilson, in 1954. He used it to describe the New Look policy of depending on nuclear weapons, rather than a large regular army, to keep the Soviet Union in check. Today, the phrase is used to mean a greater worth for the money used. Contents 1 History and usage 2 Criticism 3 See also 4 References History and usage ( Bang for the ( or one 's ) buck ), which means ' value for one 's money ', was originally a political one. Its first use was quite literal : With bang referring to ' firepower ' or ' weaponry ', it really did mean ' bombs for one 's money '. The alliteration of bang and buck helps to make the phrase memorable. `` '' Random House, December 19, 1997 William Safire discussed `` bang for the buck '' in his 1968 book, New Language of Politics. Safire stated that U.S. Secretary of Defense Charles Erwin Wilson used the phrase in 1954 to summarize the New Look policy. The New Look, a 1950s national security policy during the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, was called `` more bang for the buck '' and `` bigger bang for the buck ''. `` More bang for the buck '' was also used in the late 1960s by the U.S. military to refer to how it wanted to receive more combat power from the armaments it possessed. The United States, instead of supporting a large regular army, increasingly depended on nuclear weapons to hold the Soviet Union in check. `` Bigger bang for the buck '' is similar to the phrase `` more bounce to the ounce '', an advertising catchphrase used in 1950 by PepsiCo to market its soft drink product Pepsi. Sometimes the phrase is used to mean `` a better value for the money spent ''. Criticism In 2001, author Matthew L. Stone wrote that the phrase `` has been overused almost to the point of becoming meaningless ''. In her 2010 book The Trouble with Thinking, Lauren Powers wrote that whenever she hears the cliché `` bigger bang for the buck '', she becomes `` distracted '' by the phrase 's history and can not continue paying attention to the speaker 's words. See also Consumer choice Value added References Notes Jump up ^ Heacock 2003, p. 19 ^ Jump up to : `` The Mavens ' Word of the Day : bang for the buck ''. Random House. 1997 - 12 - 19. Archived from the original on 2010 - 12 - 08. Retrieved 2010 - 12 - 07. Jump up ^ Mayer 2010, p. xxiv Jump up ^ Pavelec 2009, p. 325 Jump up ^ Safire 2008, p. 51 Jump up ^ Feldman 1989, p. 199 Jump up ^ Kort 2001, p. 39 Jump up ^ Ammer 2006, p. 34 Jump up ^ `` Case Study -- Pepsico : Cola gets a pep talk ''. LexisNexis. 2007 - 04 - 16. Archived from the original on 2010 - 12 - 08. Retrieved 2010 - 12 - 08. ^ Jump up to : Powers 2010, p. 135 Jump up ^ Stone 2001, p. 54 Bibliography Ammer, Christine ( 2006 ). The Facts on File dictionary of Clichés. New York : Infobase Publishing. ISBN 0 - 8160 - 6279 - X. Feldman, Jonathan ( 1989 ). Universities in the Business of Repression : The Academic - Military - Industrial Complex and Central America. Boston : South End Press. ISBN 0 - 89608 - 354 - 3. Heacock, Paul ( 2003 ). Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0 - 521 - 53271 - X. Kort, Michael ( 2001 ). The Columbia Guide to the Cold War. New York : Columbia University Press. ISBN 0 - 231 - 10773 - 0. Mayer, Michael S. ( 2010 ). The Eisenhower Years. New York : Infobase Publishing. ISBN 0 - 8160 - 5387 - 1. Pavelec, Sterling Michael ( 2009 ). The Military - Industrial Complex and American Society. Santa Barbara, California : ABC - CLIO. ISBN 1 - 59884 - 187 - 4. Powers, Lauren ( 2010 ). The Trouble with Thinking. Bloomington, Indiana : iUniverse. ISBN 1 - 936236 - 28 - 1. Safire, William ( 2008 ). Safire 's Political Dictionary. New York : Oxford University Press. ISBN 0 - 19 - 534334 - 4. Stone, Matthew L. ( 2001 ). Modern Sports & GT Cars Under $20 k. St. Paul, Minnesota : MotorBooks International. ISBN 0 - 7603 - 0899 - 3. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bang_for_the_buck&oldid=808088030 '' Categories : American culture American English idioms United States defense policymaking Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 31 October 2017, at 20 : 16. About Wikipedia

Question: where did the phrase bang for your buck come from
Answer: advertising slogan used in 1950 to market the carbonated soft drink Pepsi