Meaning: cost dearly. Use examples.
Rewrite 1: cost an eye and an ear
Rewrite 2: cost you your left nostril
Rewrite 3: cost a hand full of fingers and toes
Rewrite 4: fee is your car and the garage it sleeps in
Rewrite 5: cost you half your sense of humor and all your good looks

Comment: I’m trying for a little humor here, but all of its applications won’t be happy ones.

More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled “clichés”:
• Halfvalue.com Books: Popular titles on clichés.

Note: By providing links to other websites I am only showing you what is out there about clichés – I am not endorsing any content or opinion expressed there.

Check out the new alphabetical list of all my cliché rewrites available in the archive list at the right. To search the page using Internet Explorer, just go to “Edit” in the top menu bar, select “Find”, then enter the cliché or a word from it.