# 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:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/41 "2008-06-16T13:14:02Z")
Ex-midwest transplanted to the US south; I understand it, but don’t use it. It would be even more out of place now than before. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/42 "2008-06-16T13:17:06Z")
It common, but expensive is more prevalent. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/43 "2008-06-16T14:48:55Z")
Hijack: I moved to the Oregon last year, and have heard a word for “expensive” that I’ve never heard anywhere else: **"spendy"** ("…we like going to that restaurant, but it’s pretty spendy…") It stops me in my tracks every time I hear it, because it sounds so strange. Is this a PNW-only word, or is it in wide circulation nationwide and I’ve just been sheltered? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/44 "2008-06-16T15:49:37Z")
As a fellow resident of the PNW, I can tell you that “spendy” has been part of the local slang for at least ten years: long enough to take hold here, possibly not long enough to be exported. There’s another PNW phenomenon that’s worth mentioning, too. We’ve got lots of large-mammal wildlife in our forests and on the wilderness fringes of our cities. The roads that cut through these areas serve as both border and thoroughfare to the animals. There are a number of places where inattentive drivers frequently strike these animals with their vehicles, resulting in great damage and possibly a pricey stay in the hospital. It’s therefore necessary to warn drivers that they’re approaching a stretch of road where inattention can result in expensive repairs and medical costs, and that if they don’t want a hit to the bank account, they should stay alert and exercise caution. Hence, the frequently spotted sign: “Dear Crossing.” ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/45 "2008-06-16T15:54:56Z")
In French it’s either “beloved” or “expensive” depending on the context: “Mon cher ami” = my dear friend “L’essence est chère” gasoline is expensive Humorously you can say “ma chère épouse” with the meaning of “costly” if you talk about finances ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/46 "2008-06-16T17:16:11Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] 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. [/QUOTE] This is new to me. I didn’t know that it was used in that sense anywhere in the U.S., except figuratively, when referring to mistakes that are dearly paid for and so on. I would say further that ‘dear’ and ‘dearly’ denote the effort and tribulation of the person doing the ‘paying’ so to speak, rather than a simple numeric price. I always thought ‘dear’=‘expensive’ was common UK usage. Or is it common only in the North, for example, in Liverpool where the Beatles grew up? ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/47 "2008-06-16T21:35:10Z")
[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus] I always thought ‘dear’=‘expensive’ was common UK usage. Or is it common only in the North, for example, in Liverpool where the Beatles grew up? [/QUOTE] It’s common nationwide. Its frequency of use probably varies more with generation than with region. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/48 "2008-06-17T17:32:11Z")
Mid-west US. I occasionally use it, but usually meaning costly in something other then money. If it’s just money, it expensive. If the cost is in time, dignity, effort, inconvenience, etc, then it’s dear. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/49 "2008-07-16T20:02:33Z")
Could dear in English be related to the Irish _daor_ (pron. ‘dare’) meaning expensive? ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/50 "2008-07-16T21:32:55Z")
[QUOTE=An Gadaí] Could dear in English be related to the Irish _daor_ (pron. ‘dare’) meaning expensive? [/QUOTE] “Daor” is the opposite of “saor” meaning “free” (as in a free man). It’s one of the “s” “d” pairs like dorcha and sorcha, dólás and sólás, and so on. “Dear” in English is from a Germanic origin. I wouldn’t rule out a family relationship, but an independent origin seems more likely, as they converged on the meaning of expensive from different semantic directions (“enslaved” and “cherished” respectively). ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/51 "2008-07-16T22:05:57Z")
[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus] This is new to me. I didn’t know that it was used in that sense anywhere in the U.S., except figuratively, when referring to mistakes that are dearly paid for and so on. I would say further that ‘dear’ and ‘dearly’ denote the effort and tribulation of the person doing the ‘paying’ so to speak, rather than a simple numeric price. [/QUOTE] I agree completely. I’d go so far as to say that in the U.S., _in general_, “dear” meaning “expensive” may be be understood in context, but is extremely rare both in print and conversation. “Dearly” is used more often, but almost always as part of the idiom “paid dearly”. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/52 "2008-07-16T23:27:14Z")
I’ll just go and ask my dear wife… ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020/53 "2008-07-17T15:38:28Z")
[QUOTE=hibernicus] “Daor” is the opposite of “saor” meaning “free” (as in a free man). It’s one of the “s” “d” pairs like dorcha and sorcha, dólás and sólás, and so on. “Dear” in English is from a Germanic origin. I wouldn’t rule out a family relationship, but an independent origin seems more likely, as they converged on the meaning of expensive from different semantic directions (“enslaved” and “cherished” respectively). [/QUOTE] I was aware of the “s”/“d” pairings and meant to include that in my post but thanks for the clarification. I mentioned it because that term is still very much in current use in Hiberno-English. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-common-to-use-dear-as-a-synonym-for-expensive/453020.md?page=2)