Wiktionary

pay through the nose

English

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WOTD – 13 November 2024

Etymology

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Origin uncertain; according to the American etymologist and linguist Anatoly Liberman (born 1937), probably a nautical term drawing an analogy between paying a large sum of money and paying out an anchor’s cable or chain through the hawseholes at the bow (metaphorically the “nose”) of a ship.[1] He is unconvinced of other explanations such as the following:[2]

  • The term is said to derive from the story of the Norse god Odin levying a tax on the nose of every Swede. However, Liberman is of the view that it is unclear why a god would require money.
  • Alternatively, the term is said to be from Old Norse nef-gildi (“poll tax payable to the king”, literally “nose-tax”), nose being a synecdoche referring to a person, because the Irish were required to pay such a tax to the Vikings who conquered them (795–1169 C.E.). Liberman points out that the English term is only attested centuries after this period.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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pay through the nose (third-person singular simple present pays through the nose, present participle paying through the nose, simple past and past participle paid through the nose)

  1. (idiomatic) To pay an exorbitant or excessive amount, either in money or in some other manner. [from 17th c.]
    Hypernym: pay over the odds
    • 1650, G[eorge] W[alker], Anglo-tyrannus, or The Idea of a Norman Monarch, Represented in the Paralell Reignes of Henrie the Third and Charles Kings of England, […]‎[2], London: […] George Thompson […], →OCLC, archived from the original on 2019-04-15, page 20:
      Observe here the happy estate of our Ancestors under Monarchy, who, if they gained but this advantage […] of receiving a few good Grants, and enjoying a pittance of Freedom, once in 4 or 5 ages when their King was too young to play Rex, and there hapned a wise and honest Protector; yet were sure to pay through the nose for it afterwards with double and treble interest for forbearance.
    • 1672, [Andrew Marvell], The Rehearsal Transpros’d: Or, Animadversions upon a Late Book, Entituled, A Preface, Shewing what Grounds there are of Fears and Jealousies of Popery, London: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 270:
      But vvhen they came to ſeek for Match, and Bullet, and Povvder, there vvas none to be had. The Fanaticks had bought it all up, and made them pay for it moſt unconſcionably, and through the noſe.
    • 1751, [Alain-René Lesage], “Gil Blas Acquires the Theatrical Taste, Abandons Himself to the Pleasures of a Comic Life, with which however, He is Disgusted in a Little Time”, in [Tobias George Smollett], transl., The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane. […], 3rd edition, volume I, London: […] J. Osborn, […], →OCLC, book III, page 257:
      [F]armers of the revenue vvere admitted, vvho, far from being gratified for their preſence, as they are in their ovvn aſſemblies, vvere obliged to pay through the noſe for their reception.
    • 1782, [Frances Burney], “A Prating”, in Cecilia, or Memoirs of an Heiress. […], volume V, London: […] T[homas] Payne and Son […], and T[homas] Cadell […], →OCLC, book X, page 287:
      [S]he [a lady]'s a mere nobody, as one may ſay, till ſhe can get herſelf a huſband, being ſhe knovvs nothing of buſineſs, and is made to pay for every thing through the noſe.
    • 1795 December, “[Monthly Chronicle. Home News.] Hare and Stag Chace.”, in The Freemasons’ Magazine: Or, General and Complete Library, volume V, London: […] J. Parsons, […], →OCLC, page 433:
      Several persons have already left off snuff-taking, in consequence of the additional duty on tobacco, observing that they have no idea of paying through the nose for the expence of war.
    • 1889, Robert Louis Stevenson, Lloyd Osbourne, “Final Adjustment of the Leather Business”, in The Wrong Box, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, page 282:
      I seem to understand that this gentleman […] is the fons et origo of the trouble; and, from what I gather, he has already paid through the nose.
    • 1918, Peter B[ernhard] Kyne, chapter XXXVI, in The Valley of the Giants, New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →OCLC, page 358:
      "You'll pay through the nose for this, you scoundrel," Sexton whimpered. "I'll fix you, you traitor."
    • 1920, John Galsworthy, “Where Forsytes Fear to Tread”, in In Chancery (The Forsyte Saga; 2), London: William Heinemann, →OCLC, part II, page 159:
      [T]hat fellow would milk the settlements somehow, and make his family pay through the nose to keep him out of bankruptcy or perhaps even gaol!
    • 1995, Francine Mathews, chapter 1, in Death in Rough Water (A Merry Folger Mystery), New York, N.Y.: William Morrow and Company, →ISBN, page 12:
      Somebody figured out that a harpooned fish dies quicker and tastes better than one caught by the long-liners' nets. Whole Foods pays through the nose for it, all over the country. So do restaurants.
    • 2021 April 8, “Brace for the Amazon effect on live sport”, in The Economist‎[3], London: The Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-04-08:
      At a time when other entertainment is available at a sliver of the price from Netflix and other streaming services, live sport is the only thing left to induce viewers to pay through the nose for pay-TV.

Translations

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Anatoly Liberman (2024 February) “A Few Idioms”, in Origin Uncertain: Unraveling the Mysteries of Etymology, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →DOI, →ISBN, pages 302–303 (also at Anatoly Liberman (2010 October 13) “Why Pay through the Nose?”, in OUPblog‎[1], archived from the original on 2024-02-05), quoting Richard Edgcumbe (1898 December 3) “Horse-Marine”, in Notes and Queries: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, General Readers, etc., volume II (9th Series), number 49, London: […] John Edward Francis, […] [for] John C. Francis […], →OCLC, pages 456–457:
    Then, again, “Paying through the nose.” This was originally a common expression on board ship: “Pay out the cable,” “pay out handsomely.” The nose of a ship is, of course, the bow; its nostrils are the hawse holes on either side. Now, it does not seem very difficult (at all events, for a sailor) to associate extortionate disbursements with handsome payments—such, for instance, as paying out a chain cable (through the nose), especially when the order is conveyed in such language as this, “Pay out handsomely.” At all events, I can speak on this matter from personal experience as a midshipman. To my mind “paying through the nose” for anything has always been associated with the rattling of a “payed out” chain cable, after the anchor has gripped the ground.
  2. ^ Liberman, pages 301–302.

Further reading

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