Pay through the nose

Origin of: Pay through the nose

Pay through the nose

To pay through the nose means to pay too much or pay an exorbitant amount and dates from the late 17th century. Despite many theories, the origin remains unknown. The often-heard story about the Danes splitting the noses of Irish tax dodgers with a knife is spurious. There is not much doubt that the Danes would do such a thing, but to offer this as the origin of an expression that emerged some 700 years later stretches the imagination, if not the nose. Another theory, that it has something to do with nosebleeds, probably confuses two separate idioms, i.e. ‘paying through the nose’ and ‘bleeding’ someone for money. As does the theory that if it is possible to lead someone by the nose, is it easy to make them pay through it. There is evidence that ‘rhino’ was slang for money during the 17th century but Eric Partridge in his Dictionary of Historical Slang cannot tell us why. What is the connection to ‘pay through the nose’ one might ask. Well, rhino is Greek for nose and some people have offered this as a possible origin of ‘pay through the nose’. We should just settle for ‘origin unknown’.