FR French · informal · 3 of 5
coûter les yeux de la tête
exasperated, vivid
Word by word
cost · the · eyes · of · the · head
Idiomatic sense
To be extremely expensive. The price is figured as the eyes out of one's head. Said of rents, repairs, tickets, anything whose cost feels absurd.
It is informal. It complains. It does not state a market analysis, and it does not mean that anyone is injured.
Examples
La réparation coûte les yeux de la tête.
The repair costs a fortune.
Un loyer pareil, ça coûte les yeux de la tête.
A rent like that costs the earth.
Equivalents
Marks say how far the other phrase travels with this one. How to read them.
- near
One eye of the face, against the eyes of the head. The picture is the same family, the job is the same, and the wording is not identical.
- near
to cost an arm and a leg
Same complaint. English spends limbs. French spends eyes.
- near
ein Vermögen kosten
To cost a fortune. Same force, no body part.
- partial
贵得离谱
So expensive it has left the reasonable range. A common pattern, not a classical set phrase, and with no body in it.
Notes
Related complaints exist, including coûter la peau des fesses. They are not this entry. The eyes of the head are the headword, and they match the Spanish eye of the face closely enough to cross-refer.
Sources
- Standard informal idiom. Wording is original.