今日短語(yǔ)

在中世紀(jì)的英國(guó)，如果一個(gè)人沒有繳稅，那么他的鼻子就會(huì)被用刀刺穿一個(gè)洞以示懲罰。這正是 pay through the nose for something “通過鼻子支付”這個(gè)說法最初的含義，之后被引申成“為某事物花大價(jià)錢，支付高出合理的費(fèi)用”。

例句

We went on vacation during the school holidays. Of course we had to pay through the nose for our tickets as they always put the prices up then.

If you order a good bottle of wine in a restaurant you really pay through the nose for it.

Some people don’t mind paying through the nose for brands they like.

請(qǐng)注意

另一個(gè)可以用來(lái)表示“花一大筆錢”的說法是 an arm and a leg “一只胳膊和一條腿”，有時(shí)我們也說 pay an arm and a leg for something。如果我們需要“付出”一只胳膊或一條腿才能得到某物，那么“代價(jià)”顯然是極其高昂的。

例句

Fuel is so expensive these days. It costs an arm and a leg to fill up the car.

Never order water in a restaurant; it costs an arm and a leg.