a Jew's eye
- idiom
- Slur
:
[Ofensivo] algo de gran valor
- He said he'd give a Jew's eye to own such a rare manuscript.
Examples
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The ring was worth a Jew's eye to collectors in the antique market.
-
He paid a Jew's eye for that vintage car.
-
In old tales, pirates would fight for treasure that was called a Jew's eye.
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This painting is worth a Jew's eye.
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He paid a Jew's eye for that vintage car, given its rarity and condition.
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The ring was worth a Jew's eye to collectors eager to own a piece of history.
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For the opportunity to travel first class, she would give a Jew's eye.
Synonyms
3
4.8
A person someone loves and values above all others
1
4.4
A person or thing that someone loves and cares for more than others
A person someone loves most and who makes them very happy
How Valuable
Surface Forms
Morphology
a + Jew's + eyes
The meaning 'a thing that is extremely valuable' does not follow from the literal constituents 'Jew's' + 'eye' (which would suggest an eye belonging to a Jewish person). This is a culturally specific, archaic and pejorative idiom whose idiomatic value-sense is not predictable from the parts, so learners who only know the words would not reliably infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
A Jew's eye comes from old, unfair ideas that said Jewish people were very rich; the image was of someone giving an eye to buy a rare treasure, so the phrase came to mean 'something very valuable'. Today the saying is offensive.