maksaa maltaita
Finnish
Etymology
Literally "to cost malt(s)". Malted grains could once upon a time be used to pay taxes.
Verb
- (idiomatic) to cost an arm and a leg, to cost the earth (to be a huge expense)
- Kaupungin johdon tyhmyys maksaa meille maltaita.
- The dumbness of the city management costs us the earth.
Conjugation
See maksaa. maltaita is in the plural number and in the partitive case, but is inflected in the genitive in action nouns: see Appendix:Finnish verb phrases.