arm and a leg

1. An exorbitant amount of money, as in These resort hotels charge an arm and a leg for a decent meal, or Fixing the car is going to cost an arm and a leg. According to Eric Partridge, this hyperbolic idiom, which is always used in conjunction with verbs such as “cost,” “charge,” or “pay,” and became widely known from the 1930s on, probably came from the 19th-century American criminal slang phrase, if it takes a leg (that is, even at the cost of a leg), to express desperate determination.

Example Sentences

"It should not cost an arm and a leg to take the family to a baseball game or attend your favorite musician's show."

From BBC

“It should not cost an arm and a leg to take the family to a baseball game or attend your favorite musician’s show.”

From Los Angeles Times

A 28-year-old British volunteer lost an arm and a leg – saving civilians - but is now stable in hospital.

From BBC

He already suspects that “the fancy new computer system that they’ve spent an arm and a leg on” is at fault, and has refused to endorse its figures.

From Los Angeles Times

Police later discovered another arm and a leg.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• amount 
• charge 
• damage 
• expenditure 
• figure 
• outlay 
• payment 
• price 
• price tag 
• rate 
• tariff 
• value 
• worth