too rich for one's blood

English

Alternative forms

• rich for one's blood

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Adjective

too rich for one's blood

1. (idiomatic) Too expensive or fancy to suit one's taste or preferences.
   • 1899, Horatio Alger, chapter 8, in Mark Mason's Victory:

     "I don't care to rob you of this bread. Aunt Jane. It's too rich for my blood. . . . I'd rather take my supper at the cheapest restaurant on the Bowery."

   • 1903, Andy Adams, chapter 24, in The Log of a Cowboy:

     "That's right, fellows," roared Lovell from his commanding position, as he jingled a handful of gold coins, ". . . and remember that nothing's too rich for our blood to-day."

   • 1921, Zane Grey, chapter 5, in The Mysterious Rider:

     "Smoke! Me? I'll give you a hoss right now for a cigar. I git one onct a year, mebbe."
     "Here's a box I've been packin' for long," replied Wade, as he handed it up to Billings. "They're Spanish, all right. Too rich for my blood!"

   • 2001 June 24, Donald L. Barlett, James B. Steele, “The Empire Of The Pigs”, in Time:

     It was not just Oklahoma's subsidies that persuaded Seaboard to relocate. The Albert Lea work force was unionized; wages had risen to $19,100 a year—still $3,100 below their level in 1983, but too rich for Seaboard's blood.