In the listening lesson “Sex and the City 2!” I talked about buying snacks at the movie theatre. I said:
Admission for an adult is now $11.99, which is not so bad, but they charge an arm and a leg for food and drinks!!
Here are some other ways to say that something is expensive:
Wow! That house looks expensive. It must have cost a small fortune.
Oooh, is that a new Prada bag? That must have cost you a pretty penny!
I really like the new restaurant that opened up down the street. It’s a bit pricey but the food is worth it!
We found the perfect location for our wedding reception, but we had to pay through the nose for it!
I would love to go to Switzerland on vacation, but a trip right now would definitely break the bank!
Going to the movies is expensive, but it won’t break the bank!
(to break the bank = to cost all the money you have in the bank; more commonly used in the negative form to not break the bank when you want to say that something is expensive, but not that expensive.)
The New York Yankees pay top dollar for the best baseball players.
(to pay top dollar= to pay a lot of money for something.)
Do you have any interesting expressions in your language to say that something is expensive?
You are beautiful and hey your lessons are great..they have been introduced in a more understanding way with videos…students stay attracted while teaching when the look of the teacher is great…I also do English tuition here in Sri Lanka..nice meeting you dear!
Hi Melania. Well, see, in Spain we use a similar expression to "break the bank". When someone wants to treat himself, but thinks that is going to spend too much money, they say "no vas a salir de pobre por eso". It means that you're poor now and you will continue being poor after spending that amount of money. You know, we Spaniards aren't good savers. :P I hope not to have made many mistakes in my writting. Thanks a lot for your lessons!
Hi, Marvin! (I think 'tio' in Spanish is 'uncle'?!)
It's nice to hear from you! Don't worry, I understood everything you wrote. So, is "no vas a salir de pobre por eso" an encouragment to spend the money or to save?! It sounds like it encourages the person to spend since they will be poor anyways = )
Take care,
Melanie
Hi there, Melanie. Certainly, Tío is "uncle" in Spanish.
And, yes, the idiom is an encoraugement to spend the money. Nice to hear from you too. Hugs!
Hey Melanie!
We have a lot of expressions for that situation here in Brazil, like "Que Roubo" (something like the english expression you mentioned "highway robbery"), "isso me custou o olho da cara" (that cost my face eyes), I can't remember more ones right now, hehe. =D
Hugs!
Hi Malanie, how are you today?
In my language we have many interesting expressions to say that something is expensive as: caro pra chuchu (expensive for “chuchu”, its a vegetable, I think in English is chayote).
Another expression is “custa o olho da cara”, something as “it cost the face eyes);
Or, another one: “é um roubo!”, like: “this is a steal”.
There are many, but theses are more frequently used.
See you
Andrea (from Brazil)
Hi Melanie!! I really like your videos and I find them useful for my pronunciation!! In Italy ,to say that something is really expensive,we say that something costs “una barca di soldi” that means “boat full of money”.
That’s a great expression, Martina! I’m going to remember that & try to use it the next time I’m go to Italy!
= )