# Is it common to use "dear" as a synonym for "expensive"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 15, 2008, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020 "2008-06-15T16:36:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/1 "2008-06-15T16:36:00Z")
The English adjective _dear_ is etymologically related to German _teuer_, which can mean both “dear” and “expensive”, although the former meaning (“mein teurer Freund”) is not very customary nowadays. It’s the same for _carus_ in Latin and _cher_ in French. In the Beatles song “When I’m Sixty-Four”, there’s the line > [@Ringo Starr](#): > > Every summer we can rent a cottage in the Isle of Wight if it’s not too dear I was quite surprised to hear that since I had never heard _dear_ used in that meaning before. I looked it up in a dictionary, which included this usage but noted it as British. Is this customary in Britain, or anywhere else? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/2 "2008-06-15T16:39:00Z")
I’m a 50 year old US midwesterner who has been familiar with the use of the word ‘dear’ to mean expensive since at least the 5th grade. So take that for what it’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/3 "2008-06-15T16:41:56Z")
58 year old Englishman who has used the word _dear_ for _expensive_ all my life, in common with all other English folks of my acquaintance. And OED traces the usage as far back as 1044. > [@](#): > > 1. a. Of a high price, high-priced, absolutely or relatively; costly, expensive: the opposite of cheap. > > 1044 O.E. Chron., On {edh}isum {asg}ere wæs swy{edh}e mycel hunger ofer eall Englaland and corn swa dyre..swa {th}æt se sester hwætes eode to LX pen. 1154 Ibid. an. 1137 §3 {Th}a was corn dære. c1320 Seuyn Sag. 3724 (W.) Than so bifell that corn was dere. 1375 BARBOUR Bruce XVIII. 283 This is the derrest beiff that I Saw euir {ygh}eit; for sekirly It cost ane thousand pund and mar. 1509 HAWES Past. Pleas. IV. xix, Nothynge I wanted, were it chepe or dere. 1595 SHAKES. John I. i. 153 Sell your face for fiue pence and 'tis deere. 1668 ROLLE Abridgment 40 He swore, that the Wood was worth 40s. where it was dear of 13s. 4d. 1745 De Foe’s Eng. Tradesman (1841) II. xxxviii. 109 Our manufactures..may be dear, though low-priced, if they are mean in their value. 1857 RUSKIN Pol. Econ. Art ii. (1868) 89 Pictures ought not to be too dear, that is to say, not as dear as they are. (Sorry about the characters that won’t print in the early cites). ---
**Author:** ![as\_u\_wish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6f9a4e/32.png) [@as\_u\_wish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/as_u_wish)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/4 "2008-06-15T16:51:50Z")
I’ve heard it used more often as an adverb–as in “He paid dearly for his mistake.” ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/5 "2008-06-15T16:51:56Z")
45 y/o from Midwest; I recognize it. That is, I wouldn’t use it but I know that it also carries that meaning. If someone said, “He paid dearly for his mistake,” it might not have anything to do with money, for instance. But then, I was raised by parents who grew up during the Depression. I remember being teased for using words others didn’t. footstool=hassock couch=davenport etc. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/6 "2008-06-15T16:52:47Z")
33-year-old Midwesterner here. I’ve been familiar with the usage of “dear” to mean expensive for decades, and have used it in writing, but I’ll admit that it’s not a usage that occurs naturally in conversation. …but I’d sooner use it in conversation than “spendy.” ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/7 "2008-06-15T16:56:22Z")
I think of it as a northern kind of thing - I heard it in Maine, I think. Not here in the South. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/8 "2008-06-15T17:09:59Z")
Its a pretty common usage in Scotland. ---
**Author:** ![Seventy-five](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Seventy-five](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seventy-five)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/9 "2008-06-15T17:10:47Z")
Thirty-something Brit - always used it - not just in English … I use and hear “cher” for both meanings here in France and I’m pretty sure that my friends in Northern Italy do the same with “caro” (altho’, again from memory I think expensive is always carO whereas dear to me depends on the gender of the person you’re referring to caro/cara.). ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/10 "2008-06-15T17:14:07Z")
One of my favorite quotes by Benjamin Franklin (as Poor Richard) is: _“Experience keeps a dear school, but a fool will learn in no other.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/11 "2008-06-15T17:18:10Z")
45 year old Canadian here. Very common. Then again, I was born in Scotland… ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/12 "2008-06-15T19:52:02Z")
Very common here too. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/13 "2008-06-15T20:05:25Z")
Even though I come from Scotsmen who used it when I was growing up .most Michiganders would think it an anachronism. They would think you were old for using it. The Beetles used it in song though. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/14 "2008-06-15T20:09:45Z")
Common throughout the English-speaking world, less so in US but usually recognized. Same synonymism is used in French and Italian, FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![trustno\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc29f/32.png) [@trustno\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trustno_1)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/15 "2008-06-15T20:37:56Z")
Many older folk I know use the word dear as expensive all the time. I often thought it was an older persons thing. I use it sometimes but I think thats probably something Ive picked up from the older folks! ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/16 "2008-06-15T20:41:13Z")
Its less common now than it used to be, definitely. I’m more apt to use it as an adverb than anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/17 "2008-06-15T21:06:33Z")
Very common in the North West, where the Beatles came from. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/18 "2008-06-15T21:11:19Z")
My lovely and talented mother uses it frequently. She’s from Ballarat, in Australia. I still use it now, but the place I currently live is awash in anachronistic usages, so I doubt anyone notices this sort of phrasing. You’ll occasionally hear a young woman called ‘maid’ here. As in “thank you, maid”. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/19 "2008-06-15T21:14:21Z")
Hey thanks everyone. I hadn’t expected that many reactions! It seems to me, judging from your replies, that it’s in the passive vocabulary of English-speakers worldwide, while your mileage for active vocab may vary: Common in some regions, less common but recognisable in others. As said, I find it interesting that the same word evolved in the other direction in German, _teuer_ in the meaning o"beloved" being quite archaic nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/20 "2008-06-16T01:39:49Z")
Very common in New Zealand…I don’t think I heard a kiwi say “expensive” or “fancy” (that would instead be “flash”) in several weeks there. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020.md?page=2)