Cost an Arm and a Leg
If something “costs an arm and a leg,” it is very or extremely expensive. The expression is well documented in American mid-twentieth-century material; archival-search research identifies figurative examples in The Record Changer in 1948, while the familiar story that portrait painters charged by the number of limbs shown lacks evidence.
The idiom means “to be very expensive.” Evidence places the modern figurative expression in American usage by the late 1940s. The popular portrait-painting explanation is not supported by evidence and should not be presented as its origin.
Key details
What the evidence supports
Portrait painters charged more when they included a sitter’s arms and legs.
The reviewed documentary chronology does not support this popular story.
The modern idiom arose directly from wartime limb loss.
The metaphor is imaginable, but the reviewed sources do not establish a direct documented origin chain.
Documented timeline
- 1948
Figurative use reported in The Record Changer
An archival research report identifies figurative uses in 1948 issues; the Library of Congress independently catalogs/digitizes the periodical.
Further guidance
Chronology boundary
The engine records 1948 as a documented figurative example found in archival research, not as a guaranteed first-ever utterance or print appearance.
Documented History
A detailed archival search reports figurative uses in the February and May 1948 issues of The Record Changer. The Library of Congress independently catalogs and provides digitized issues of that periodical from the relevant publication run.
Meaning
Cambridge defines “cost (someone) an arm and a leg” as being very expensive.
Origin Status
The exact mechanism by which the expression formed is not established. Phrase Finder independently treats the portrait-painter pricing story as unsupported folklore and places the expression in mid-twentieth-century American usage.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- Cost (someone) an arm and a leg — Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press · Current meaning
- The Record Changer — Library of Congress catalog and digitized issues (opens in a new tab)Library of Congress · Bibliographic verification for the periodical used in 1948 chronology research
- Where does the phrase “costs an arm and a leg” come from? (opens in a new tab)English Language & Usage Stack Exchange · Documented February and May 1948 figurative examples, with archive cross-check described by researcher
- An Arm and a Leg — meaning and origin (opens in a new tab)The Phrase Finder · Independent origin research and rejection of portrait-pricing folklore