💸 cost an arm and a leg

Concrete Meaning

To be excessively or outrageously expensive.

💬 Context & Examples

Used informally to complain about high prices or the financial burden of a purchase.

"Getting my transmission repaired is going to cost an arm and a leg."
"I'd love to go to that luxury resort, but a weekend there costs an arm and a leg."

🧠 Pattern Challenge

Test Yourself

What is the physical visual of this expression?

Show Answer

Sacrificing your own vital limbs. Metaphorically, the price is so devastatingly high that paying it feels like losing a crucial, irreplaceable part of yourself.

🎬 Narrative & Case Study Applications

IKEA-Mass Production & Design Innovation — Represents IKEA's core commercial mission and democratic market disruption, premised on the belief that ergonomic, aesthetically modern domestic living should not cost an arm and a leg for ordinary working families.