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You’re probably familiar with the expression: “ Paying through the nose ‘? As a matter of fact, at one time or another you may have “paid through the nose”!

But what does the expression really mean and where in the world did it come from?

Well, paying through the nose simply means that you have paid a lot of money (too much in fact) for something and… that you were not too happy about it.

Many believe that the expression originated in Britain and started with people not being able to pay their taxes. As a result of and punishment for the offense the nose of the offender was slit… and the expression “paying through the nose” was born.

OUCH!!!

It’s also been suggested that the phrase might have originated with poll tax levied by the Danish on the Irish in the ninth century. The story goes that the Danes slit the noses of non-payers. However, the phrase did not appear in print until 1672 (so… who knows?).

Another possible explanation for the origin of the phrase is placed on Viking raiders. Apparently the Vikings required payment of a tribute from cities they did not raid. If the king refused to pay tribute, they would slit his nose. Hence, the king paid “through” the nose.

Regardless of where the expression originated, today it indicates that you are simply paying too much for something.

Luckily for us however, it no longer entails the slitting of noses!

No, I am not talking about two sports teams here. The “giants” and “titans” I’m referring to are a small number of 1M and 100M British banknotes locked away in the Bank of England’s vaults.

According to an article published by the BBC these large banknotes are not in circulation, yet play an important role in the British currency system. The giants and titans serve as backing the value of notes issued on a day to day basis by commercial banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The article states that:

“This backing aims to maintain everyone’s confidence in the value the notes represent. For every pound an authorised Scottish or Northern Irish bank wants to print in the form of its own notes, it has to deposit the equivalent amount in sterling with the Bank of England.

If necessary, notes from, for example, a struggling Scottish bank could be replaced with regular Bank of England cash.

“If there was an unfortunate situation when one of the banks failed, note holders would have the confidence that their notes were still valued as it said on them,” says Victoria Cleland, head of notes at the Bank of England.

So Scottish and Northern Irish banks supply their backing, which pays for the creation of giants and titans. The Bank of England prints them internally, rather than with its normal commercial printers. They are then locked away very carefully.”

Rather interesting, isn’t it? If you’d like to read the full BBC article click here.

Are You Paying Through The Nose?

Britain’s Giants and Titans..