Where did that saying come from ?

[grinder 10]

Your having a conversation with someone and in order to express a point you suddenly come out with this one liner that you understand and strangely they understand, but neither one of you knows what it really means.

The one I came out with the other day was "paying through the nose".

I know what it means they knew what it meant but where on earth dose it come from ?

[fox20thc 10]

Your having a conversation with someone and in order to express a point you suddenly come out with this one liner that you understand and strangely they understand, but neither one of you knows what it really means.

The one I came out with the other day was "paying through the nose".

I know what it means they knew what it meant but where on earth dose it come from ?

 

Apparently this was a Viking punishment for not paying tax (they would slit the persons nose from tip to brow)

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/10233077/Dark-meaning-behind-popular-phrases.html

[hillsbro 32]

From "Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable":

 

To pay through the nose. To pay an excessive price, or at an exorbitant rate. There may be some connexion between this old phrase, "rhino", slang for money, and Greek rhinos, the nose; or there may be an allusion to nosebleeding and being bled for money.

 

The 'Viking' theory is the one usually quoted, but I guess nobody nose for sure..

Edited August 6, 2014 by hillsbro
Speling...

[beezerboy 12]

" paying through the nose." Maybe it's an original one liner from Nostrildamas ,his quotes are not to sneezed at.

[grinder 10]

But isn't it amazing how so many of these saying have out lived there origins but there meaning is still instantly recognizable..

Chip off the old block, not worth his salt, I'd rather be hung for a sheep as a lamb, What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the Gander,and many more, all from a bye gone age but there's no mistaking what they mean ...

Edited August 7, 2014 by grinder

[old tup 30]

How about "He got the wrong end of the stick!",this saying comes from Roman times meaning he made a mistake or an error!.In those days after doing their number 2s the Romans used a stick with a sponge on the end to wipe their botties,so if you picked it up by the wrong end you had definitely made a mistake!.:hihi: