English

Alternative forms

• rich for one's blood

Adjective

too rich for one's blood

1. (idiomatic) Too expensive or fancy to suit one's taste or preferences.
   • 1899, Horatio Alger, Mark Mason's Victory, ch. 8:

     "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."

   • 1903, Andy Adams, The Log of a Cowboy, ch. 24:

     "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."

   • 1921, Zane Grey, The Mysterious Rider, ch. 5:

     "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!"

   • 2001 June 24, Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, "The Empire Of The Pigs," Time:

     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.