# an arm and a leg



## iyavor

Hi everyone. 

I'm looking for an idiomatic equivalent (not a literal translation) of the English phrase "an arm and a leg".

Any suggestions?

Thanks!


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## ywf

血本 would be your best bet, although I think it would be better to give more context.

For instance:

The car cost him *an arm and a leg*.
他花了*血本*买这车。


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## iyavor

that might work, would you say that this is slangy, or average conversation level?


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## samanthalee

We can also use "荷包大出血" (excessive bleeding of the pouch) to mean "an arm and a leg".


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## ywf

iyavor said:


> that might work, would you say that this is slangy, or average conversation level?



It's a common phrase in both spoken and written Chinese.


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## viajero_canjeado

Hey forum朋友，

用中文有一個好說法能表示上述的片語嗎?西班牙語也有類似的：cuesta "un ojo de la cara". 除了說『超級貴!』以外，還能怎麼形容呢?

謝謝!


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## Johnson11232

It's really hard to translate the slang. like puzzles haha

可以說『貴得嚇死人』吧!!

那輛跑車貴得嚇死人


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## SuperXW

Hi, 
我一时想不到中文里的比喻或成语，但的确有很多种说法可以形容贵……
除了“超级贵”外，有"贵得离谱"，"贵得吓人"等……


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## softserve

可以更簡潔的說
貴死了! or 怎麼不去搶好了!
台灣很常聽到這樣逗趣的說法


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## kong.zhong

成语好像没有吧。
但是可以用  天价


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## SuperXW

怎么不去抢好了！


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## viajero_canjeado

”怎麼不去搶好了“ 要解釋為“賣方賣得這麼高價等於搶買方的錢“ 還是 ”太貴哩，倒不如去搶，避免付出這麼多錢“。我猜應該是前者，對嗎？謝謝所有的提議！


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## Ghabi

是的，就是「如此牟取暴利，（賣方）不如乾脆轉行當賊好了」的意思。廣州話我們說「唔好去搶！(=倒不如去搶)」，或者說「食人隻車」，「車」是象棋裡的車；又或者說「食水深」，「食水」本來指船隻的「吃水」(draught)，但廣州話「水」可以指錢，是個雙關語。

But as usual everything depends on the context. For example,

-It cost me an arm and a leg to get the house refurnished. 我花了一大筆才把房子翻了個新。
-The book is not cheap, but it doesn't exactly break the bank. 那本書是不便宜，但也不至於是天價。


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