Hi there, this is Harry.
Welcome back to Advanced English Lessons with Harry, where I try to help you to get a better understanding of the English language.
And in our Advanced English Lesson today, we're looking at different ways to say expensive.
So So the idea of these particular lessons is to help you to get other ways in which you can express yourself.
So we're looking at number one.
And this is a very, very British expression, dear.
Okay, now, dear is one of those words that has lots and lots of different uses.
I can use it at the beginning of a letter.
Dear Mr. Smith, I would like to write to you blah, blah, blah.
Or it can be a term of endearment.
Oh, my dear, it's great to see you.
okay? But we do use the word deardeer when we're talking about something that is expensive.
Oh, it's very dear, yeah?
So perhaps you're thinking about going for a weekend to a hotel with your husband, your partner, and he or she tells you, well, it's going to be 400 euro for two of us for two nights.
Oh, that's very dear.
Don't you think we could find something a little bit cheaper?
OK, so dear is a way of saying something is expensive.
Now, we don't use it before now.
We don't don't say it's dear meat.
We don't say it's a dear hotel.
Yeah, it's just it is dear.
It's the prices. Yeah, it is dear.
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Number two, a bit more of what, what I would call a stronger emphatic adjective here.
It's exorbitant. So the prices are exorbitant.
So if you go to a five -star hotel, well, then you're going to pay five -star prices and it's exorbitant.
I mean, it's a really, really comfortable hotel, but you have to pay for everything.
The room prices, the breakfast isn't included.
If you want the spa treatment, wow, these are really, really top level prices.
Exorbitant. And be careful with the pronunciation.
association. It's not exhorbitant, it's exorbitant.
Exorbitant prices. OK.
Oh, the prices in this country are exorbitant.
Exorbitant. Really, really high.
So exorbitant is what we would call an extreme adjective.
Yeah. When something is very costly, it's at one level.
But when it's exorbitant, it's at a totally different level, a much higher level.
So we would refer to it as one of those those extreme adjectives.
Now something a little bit more informal, pricey.
Don't you think it's a little pricey?
Now it's not saying the price, pricey means expensive, okay, but it's a more informal way to refer to it.
Yeah, I really love going to that new retail centre out of town.
I mean, it's really, really good, but it's very pricey.
I mean, everything seems to be up 20 % percent compared to the other shopping center.
So when something is pricey, it just means it's a little bit too much out of your range.
Perhaps it's the new latest iPhone or perhaps it's the new gym that's opened in town.
And you look at the membership.
Wow, it's pricey, isn't it?
I mean, yeah, but the equipment is really good.
I mean, it's the best equipment.
It's all technology technology driven?
I don't know. It's a bit pricey for me.
Okay, so it's a little bit too expensive for me.
Costs an arm and a leg.
This is a really old, old expression.
When there's something that's a little bit out of your range, you can refer to it, well, it costs an arm and a leg, or it cost an arm and a leg.
You come home with a new car and your friends are looking at this and say, wow, wow that's some car i mean that's absolutely beautiful and the color is really good wow that must have cost you an arm and a leg and you say well i went a little bit outside my budget but you know i think it's going to be worth it because it really is a cool car to drive yeah your friends look at this and think i think that cost an arm and a leg you really paid a lot for that it cost an arm and a leg now if we feel that something is completely overpriced okay now it could be anything let's say it could be tickets for your
favorite football team perhaps they're playing in the final or the semi -final of some competition and you really want to go there and you know you might not get the opportunity again for several years so you pay the prices but when you you come home you give the tickets to your partner say well look I got the tickets but I have to tell you a total rip -off I mean I don't know how they justify charging this amount of money really honestly it's a joke it's a complete rip -off so when it's a rip -off it means somebody is charging you much much more than you really wanted to pay it's a rip -off and they're
taking advantage of the fact that they know there will be a shortage of tickets they know that there'll be people who want to go and that those people will be prepared to pay.
Well, anything to get to see their favourite team.
So it's a rip off. Another way of saying the same thing is it's daylight or highway robbery.
Okay. Now in the old, old, old days, highway robbery was when the man on the horse with a mask would stop the stagecoach and rob all the people of the jewellery and the money.
And this used to happen a lot up and down the the lanes of of england so these guys would be called highway robbers you know they would just stop you unexpectedly and yeah they would take everything from everybody okay so highway robbers so we now use this expression daylight robbery or highway robbery meaning it's almost the same as somebody stopping you and taking everything that you have have?
So when somebody charges you a really, really high price.
So let's say you are trying to get the new mobile phone.
So you get in the queue and when you get up to the door, the guy tells you that there's only a few of them left and the price is 1 ,300 euro for the phone.
And you go, what? 1 ,300 euro for a phone?
That's highway robbery.
That's daylight robbery.
I'm not going going to pay that now you can also use this expression when perhaps you've got a leak in your bathroom pipe or the kitchen pipe and you need to get a plumber and it's a Sunday and there's nobody there but you get onto one of these emergency services and you say look I've a real problem I've got a leak in my bathroom and a lot of water I need to get it fixed immediately the guy says okay yeah fine we can have somebody out to you in 15 minutes but there's going to be a minimum charge of 100 euro for a call out on a Sunday plus parts and labor so just to let you know.
What 100 euro before you even look at it that's daylight robbery that's highway robbery but what choice have I got I need to get the pipe fixed so you end up paying it.
Number seven out of my reach or beyond my reach or beyond reach okay so this is where something is just that little bit bit too expensive and even though you might like to get it you're not really prepared to push yourself to those limits because you're just going to have to to cut out on something else okay so you're looking to change your car or you're looking to have that really wonderful exclusive holiday so you look at the ads on the internet and you see this five -star resort you've got scuba diving you've got all sorts of activities you've got all inclusive meals collection from the airport
to the hotel and back again luxury trips on a yacht and then you see the price and go oh that sounds so wonderful but it's just out of my reach or it's beyond my reach perhaps next year we might save up a little bit more money and we might be able to go next year but at the moment unfortunately it's beyond my reach or it's out of my reach and the same way with that car so you're passing by the car showroom one day and you see one for sale and you're looking at it ah and it's just wow it's a dream car so you ask the guy what's the price and he gives you the price you go what wow oh no that's beyond
my reach it's out of my reach no no forget get it I'm really sorry for bothering you beautiful car but I just couldn't justify spending so much money on a car so it's out of my reach or it's beyond my reach and in a similar way number eight we have the expression break the bank when something breaks the bank it really pushes you over the edge yeah I could afford that car I really could but it would have broken the bank Yeah, I'd have to break the bank to get it means I'd have to spend absolutely everything I have and more besides.
So I'd probably have to be calling my bank manager and saying, could I have a car loan?
So I'd be breaking the bank to get it.
And I really, really don't want to do that now.
Look, I think I'll just drive this car for another 12 months.
Let's see what happens.
So if I went and I did that, yeah, it would break the bank.
bank. Nice idea, beautiful car, but it's going to break the bank to get it.
Or simply just a very straightforward expression.
Look guys, I just can't afford it.
Oh, we're going away for the weekend.
We haven't been away as a group for ages.
In fact, since we were at college.
So we'll book into a hotel, play a couple of games of golf, have a couple of meals.
Guys, guys, guys, I got a baby on the way, just started a new job.
I just can't afford it so when something is out of your reach beyond your reach something you just don't want to spend the money on it's just easier to say I just can't afford nice to have but I can't or I cannot afford it and then finally number 10 when something is expensive and we look at it we can say hmm that I bet that costs a fortune or I bet that costs a small fortune it means exactly the same but when we use small we're in some ways just using it to emphasize the fact that this is going to be very very expensive oh look at that house yeah oh it's beautiful i mean really beautiful but look
where it is it's in the the center of the most expensive part of the city so that's going to cost a fortune or it's going to cost a small fortune i wouldn't even like to ask how much that would cost it's just beyond our reach at the moment nice to see nice to look at.
But in reality, we can't afford that it's going to cost a small fortune.
And imagine the furniture that you'd have to buy to fill those rooms. I mean, what five bedrooms?
Yeah, that's going to cost a lot of money also.
So now, I'm sorry, it'll cost a small fortune, or it'll cost a fortune.
Okay, so there we have 1010 different ways in which you can express something as being expensive okay so let me run through you run through them for you one more time something is dear and as i said it's very british english it's dear it's exorbitant and remember the pronunciation exorbitant pricey it's a bit pricey isn't it it'll cost an arm and a leg i bet it cost an arm and a leg.
Oh that it's a total ripoff.
A total ripoff. Daylight robbery.
Highway robbery. Really really expensive.
How do they justify that?
Daylight robbery. It's out of my reach or beyond my reach. I'd like to get it but just a little bit more expensive than I'm prepared to pay.
out of my reach, beyond my reach. If I buy that, I'll have to break the bank or broke the bank to get it, to break the bank, spend more money than I actually have. Simply, I cannot afford it.
I just cannot afford it.
And then finally, cost a small fortune.
I bet that cost a small fortune.
Don't even tell me.
I bet it cost a small fortune.
So they're all to do with being expensive.
Yeah. Yeah, you can try them, yeah, put them into different sentences.
Now, you won't be able to use all of them to substitute each other.
They're not all directly synonymous, but you just have to practice and see what you're talking about and see the situation and try to explain them and try to use them.
And if you've got difficulties, come back to me, www .englishlessonbyskype .com.
Very happy to give you more examples and show you how you can use them more accurately.
Okay, this is Harry.
thanking you for watching and listening and remember, join me for the next lesson.
