Pay through the nose

Comes from the ninth-century Ireland. When the Danes conquered the Irish, they imposed an exorbitant Nose Tax on the island's inhabitants. They took a census (by counting noses) and levied oppressive sums on their victims, forcing them to pay by threatening to have their noses actually slit. Paying the tax was "paying through the nose." (source)

The phrase today doesn't have much to do with taxes but it does mean that someone is paying a ridiculous price for something.

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