too rich for one's blood

alternative rich for one's blood

1. idiomaticToo expensive or fancy to suit one's taste or preferences.

   "I don't care to rob you of this bread. Aunt Jane. It's too rich for my blood. . . . I'd rather take my supper at the cheapest restaurant on the Bowery."

   1899, Horatio Alger, chapter 8, in Mark Mason's Victory

   3 more examples

   "That's right, fellows," roared Lovell from his commanding position, as he jingled a handful of gold coins, ". . . and remember that nothing's too rich for our blood to-day."

   1903, Andy Adams, chapter 24, in The Log of a Cowboy

   "Smoke! Me? I'll give you a hoss right now for a cigar. I git one onct a year, mebbe." "Here's a box I've been packin' for long," replied Wade, as he handed it up to Billings. "They're Spanish, all right. Too rich for my blood!"

   1921, Zane Grey, chapter 5, in The Mysterious Rider

   It was not just Oklahoma's subsidies that persuaded Seaboard to relocate. The Albert Lea work force was unionized; wages had risen to $19,100 a year—still $3,100 below their level in 1983, but too rich for Seaboard's blood.

   2001 June 24, Donald L. Barlett, James B. Steele, “The Empire Of The Pigs”, in Time