an arm and a leg

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Noun

an arm and a leg (plural arms and legs)

1. (idiomatic, hyperbolic) Usually used after the verb cost, but also often charge, pay, and spend: a very high price for an item or service; an exorbitant price

   Synonym: pretty penny (cost a pretty penny)

   • 1954, Commentary, volume 18, American Jewish Committee, page 448:

     That Polack costs me an arm and a leg, he thought.

   • 1960 March 29, “Slim waists prompted new sportswear line”, in The New York Times, page 44:

     Bangle bracelets in fourteen-karat gold that do not cost an arm and a leg are always in demand.

   • 2008, Jackie Collins, Hollywood Wives, Pan Macmillan, →ISBN, page 417:

     Her house was fabulous, her tits perfection – besides – the Beverly Hills Hotel was costing him an arm and a leg.

Translations

exorbitant amount

• Catalan: colló de mico (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 天價／天价 (zh) (tiānjià) (lit. "astronomical price"), 昂貴／昂贵 (zh) (ángguì) (lit. "expensive")

• Danish: det hvide ud af øjnene (usually used after the verb koste (cost))
• Dutch: een rib uit het lijf
• Finnish: maksaa mansikoita (lit. to cost strawberries), maksaa maltaita (lit. to cost malts)
• French: (verb) coûter les yeux de la tête (fr), (verb) coûter la peau des fesses (fr), (verb, slang) coûter la peau du cul (fr)
• German: (verb) ein Vermögen kosten, (verb) Kopf und Kragen kosten
• Hungarian: borsos ár, a gatyája is rámegy
• Italian: occhio della testa
• Luxembourgish: d'Aen aus dem Kapp kaschten (literally “to cost the eyes out of one's head”)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: det hvite ut av øynene (usually used after the verb koste (cost))

• Polish: kosztować majątek (lit. cost an estate)
• Portuguese: olho da cara m
• Russian: сто́ить це́лое состоя́ние (stóitʹ céloje sostojánije), кру́гленькая су́мма f (krúglenʹkaja súmma)
• Spanish: riñón (es) m, ojo de la cara m
• Swedish: skjortan (sv) c, kosta skjortan (sv) (verb)

References

• “cost an arm and a leg/a small fortune”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “cost an arm and a leg”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.