Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • Hi everyone! I am Niharika. Well it's time to learn new things. In today's lesson,

  • we are gonna look at phrases to talk about expensive things. Yesterday I went shopping and I loved

  • this beautiful dress, but the moment I looked at the price tag I realized it's super expensive.

  • So that brings me here to do this lesson for you. In English we all talk about money, right?

  • We talk about fancy cars, expensive vacations, diamonds..all these things are so expensive.

  • In English we have many phrases you can use when you talk about expensive stuff.

  • So let's get started.

  • The very first one that I have for you is that's a bit steep. Now when do you use this expression?

  • When something is not very expensive but it's just little more expensive.

  • So you go to a store and you love these pair of shoes, but you think that these pair of shoes are

  • little expensive. So rather than saying "Ahh they are a little expensive" use this expression

  • these are a bit steep or that's a big steep. You can use this expression when something

  • is little high priced. Alright!

  • The second phrase that I have for you is that's a bit pricey. This expression is very similar

  • to the one above. So rather than using the word steep, you can also use the word pricey.

  • And again it is used for the stuff which is not very expensive but a little high priced.

  • All right, so rather than saying it's a little expensive, it's not very expensive, use the

  • expression. It's a bit steep or it's a bit pricey.

  • Let's have a look at the third expression here. To cost an arm and leg. Now when do you use

  • this? When something is so expensive. When you have to pay too much to buy something.

  • So it is a figurative phrase. Like for example - My Mercedes car has cost me an arm and leg.

  • So imagine you have to buy something that you got to sell the most important parts of

  • your body, that's arms and legs. Will you do that? So when something is super expensive,

  • rather than saying or using the word expensive use this expression - this has cost me an

  • arm and leg. Like this new diamond ring has cost me an arm and leg, it means I have paid

  • too much of money for this.

  • Now let's have a look at another expression here - To pay through the nose. Now here it

  • doesn't really mean that you remove cash out of your nose - no you don't do that, but this

  • expression is used when you pay too much of money for something. In fact this expression

  • comes from the Irish .Well, apparently the people in Ireland, if they didn't pay tax

  • - the people or the tax offenders would have their nose slit, that's weird right! So I

  • am guessing that this expression comes from the Irish - so pay through the nose actually

  • means to pay a lot of money. Like these days - cars, Uff to buy cars you literally have

  • to pay through the nose. Because cars are so expensive these days,Or for example the

  • house. To buy a house or to buy a property in my city we literally have to pay through

  • the nose , it means we have to put in a lot of money.

  • Let's have a look at the next one here - Exorbitant - well, that's how you pronounce it Exorbitant

  • and this word is used for something which is unreasonably priced. Like again, the houses,

  • if you have to buy a house in my city here , the property is priced exorbitantly. It

  • means that it's just over priced , unreasonably priced. Well expensive cars. Yes I do feel

  • that there are certain cars in the market which are over priced. So rather than saying

  • they are expensive I would use the word they are exorbitant. Right! Or probably you are

  • talking about hotels. You know there are certain hotels that charge exorbitantly for phone

  • calls or they charge exorbitantly for the night stays. So rather than saying these hotels

  • are expensive you can say they are exorbitant.

  • Let's have a look at another phrase here which is - Daylight robbery. Now daylight robbery

  • is again a figurative phrase, it's not literally we are talking about being robbed. Well, daylight

  • robbery when something is overcharged or over priced. when you go for vacations, you go

  • to a new place , you don't know the people out there, you don't know how things are priced

  • so at times you feel that the people out there kind of identify you that you are not from

  • the locality or you are not from the city or country and they tend to overcharge you

  • so it's absolutely daylight robbery. For example - a glass of juice is 10 dollars, wow that's

  • daylight robbery. So you go to a new city and there's this centre where you buy juice

  • from and a glass of juice is for 10 dollars. Well, I don't think so a glass of juice should

  • be more than 2 dollars. But if it's 10 dollars then it's absolutely daylight robbery. So

  • something that you feel is overpriced or overcharged, it means that it's daylight

  • robbery.

  • And then the next expression that we have for you is - to break the bank. Now break

  • the bank it means to spend the money or to spend all the money that you have in your

  • account, in your bank account. So my friends are going to Switzerland and they asked me

  • , Hey Niharika , do you want to join us for this trip? And what was my reply to this?

  • I said I would love to go to Switzerland, but if you are planning it now then I think

  • I will have to break the bank. It means that it's gonna be a little expensive for me right

  • now, I can't really afford it and if I have to go to Switzerland then I got to spend all

  • the savings that I have in my bank account, so I gotta break the bank. So it obviously

  • means that something is expensive. To buy this new dress I gotta break the bank, so

  • break the bank means I have to spend all the money that I have in my bank which means this

  • dress is so expensive. So go ahead and use this phrase.

  • And then the last one that I have for you Pay top dollar. Now when you use this expression

  • it is actually used for people who are highly paid. Like celebrities when they endorse brands

  • they are highly paid. So you can say that companies pay top dollar to these celebrities.

  • It means they are highly priced and they are highly paid to endorse brands. Or I would

  • say this Louis Vuitton bag well I paid top dollar for it. it means this big brand, this

  • nice bag that I bought of Louis Vitton Well I paid too much of money for this. so go ahead

  • and use this expression when you are talking about something very very expensive.

  • This brings me to the end of this lesson. All of these 8 phrases can be used for the

  • things which are super expensive, well except for the first two which are not very expensive

  • but yes use these expressions and this will help you to speak fluently and confidently.

  • I will back with a new lesson for you till then you take care.

Hi everyone! I am Niharika. Well it's time to learn new things. In today's lesson,

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it