"cost an arm and a leg"

[Gerald Cohen]

Today I received the following  query from _The Readers Digest_:
>
>... we are looking for the origin of the phrase "that will cost you an arm
>and a leg."  Do you have any suggestions on where we might look to find this
>answer?  Any books you could suggest?
>
     What comes to mind here is that the physical cost of combat (loss of
an arm and a leg, i.e.  a huge loss) is transferred to the context of a
monetary cost.

    In this connection, cf. "pay through the nose," which  apparently first
referred to being clobbered in the face (with blood flowing freely from the
nose) and was then transferred to the context of a monetary cost.

      Would  anyone have any additional information or insight to pass along?

------Gerald Cohen





gcohen at umr.edu