Costar un ojo de la cara
Meaning: To be outrageously expensive.
Language: Spanish
Literally: To cost an eye from the face
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: Tradition credits conquistador Diego de Almagro, who lost an eye in a 1524 siege and said serving the Crown had cost him an eye from his face.
Equivalents in other languages
- Finnish: Maksaa maltaita — literally: To cost malts
- English: To cost an arm and a leg — literally: To cost an arm and a leg
- French: Coûter un bras — literally: To cost an arm
- French: Coûter la peau des fesses / Coûter les yeux de la tête — literally: To cost the skin off one's backside / the eyes out of one's head
More idioms — Body & Senses
- Quedarse de piedra — To be stunned speechless.
- 발이 넓다 (bari neopda) — To be extremely well-connected.
- Å ha bein i nesa — To be assertive and able to stand your ground.
- Å snakke rett fra leveren — To speak frankly, without softening anything.
- At slå koldt vand i blodet — To calm down and keep a cool head.
- Брати ноги в руки (Braty nohy v ruky) — To hurry up and get moving quickly.
More Spanish idioms
- No hay tu tía — There's no way around it; nothing can be done.
- Estar de Rodríguez — To be a husband left working in town while the family is on holiday.
- Ser uña y carne — To be inseparable; the closest of friends.
- Dar gato por liebre — To swindle by passing off something inferior as the real thing.
- Importar un pepino — To not care in the slightest.
- Ponerse las pilas — To get your act together and start working hard.
From our tongue twisters
- Tres tristes tigres tragaban trigo en un trigal. — A relentless run on the 'tr' sound.
- El cielo está enladrillado, ¿quién lo desenladrillará? — A brutal test of the rolled 'r' and 'l'.
- Como poco coco como, poco coco compro. — A bouncy 'co' drill — the word order and meaning flip with each repetition.