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English for my Dream Phrase of the Week: You Get What You Pay For

October 1, 2017 by Ryan O'Loughlin 24 Comments

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you get what you pay for I’ve decided every week I will give you a useful English phrase, published on my blog every Monday.

Today’s phrase of the week is “you get what you pay for.”

You get what you pay for: what does it mean?

This saying means that in consuming or shopping, high prices are associated with higher-quality items, while low prices are associated with lower-quality items.

In other words, quality is associated with price.

It’s a common phrase and the meaning is simple once you understand it. Here are two example sentences.

Examples

Jesse: “I got these tires on my car a few years ago, and they are still in very good condition.”

Sarah: “That’s good! You get what you pay for I guess.”

 

John: “I got my iPhone case for $1 and it broke almost right away!”

Jacob: “Sorry to hear that but ‘you get what you pay for‘.”

Action

What  do you think of the English for my Dream Phrase of the week?

Is this helpful for you? Are there any other phrases you would like me to explain?

Please leave a note in the comments.

 

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Filed Under: English Blog

Comments

  1. MARIA says

    Thank you Ryan!! When I first read your phrase, not only I thought about “money” or “cost” but also about actions in life…Eg: if you don’t work hard on something you’ll probably get a worse result than if you paid a lot of attention, time and efforts on it. Could this be another interpretation for this phrase? Please let me know. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Ryan O'Loughlin says

      Hi Maria,

      Usually this phrase is just about money, not really “paying attention” or effort. Good question!

      Ryan

      Reply
      • lucy says

        Hv heard it before. Got the meaning well. ..thanks

        Reply
        • Ryan O'Loughlin says

          Great! Thanks, Lucy!

          Reply
  2. Glagys Laiton says

    Hi.well I have heard it before. Actually we have a similar one in Spanish. And.btw, noce to have phrases like this. Proverbs and sayings are a good source of knowledge. Thanks.

    Reply
    • Ryan O'Loughlin says

      That’s great, thanks 🙂

      Reply
  3. Joaquin says

    Thanks so much for giving us those helpful phrases. It is a great chance for improving our skills. I can’t say thank you enough!

    Reply
    • Ryan O'Loughlin says

      You’re welcome Joaquin 🙂

      Reply
  4. Pilar says

    In my country there are many places where you can get differents kinds of goods, some of them are called “street markets” , here the goods have not good quality but the price is cheap. Every time that I get goods in “a street market,” I get what I pay for! The shelf life of these goods are very short!

    Reply
    • Ryan O'Loughlin says

      Exactly, Pilar!

      Reply
  5. Silvana says

    Thanks a lot Ryan.

    Reply
    • Ryan O'Loughlin says

      You are welcome Silvana!

      Reply
  6. Sergio Mora says

    Ryan, thanks for everything. I´m sure your books is gonna be very helpful.
    By the way, could you do me a very special favor, please? I´m reading Stephen King´s book “Four Past Midnight” and in it I found this expression: “My aunt´s hat”. What does it mean? I´ve looked the expression up but I haven´t been successful. Thanks beforehand.

    Reply
    • Ryan O'Loughlin says

      Hi Sergio! Can you give a little more context? The only thing I can say now is that the hat belongs to the character’s aunt.

      Reply
  7. Kati Svaby says

    Hi Ryan,

    Your Dream Phrase reminded me a Hungarian one when in cheap shopping associated with bad quality. Then people say: “Cheap meat yields watery broth” or ” Good cheap is dear.” I have found these translation of this Hungarian phrase. Many thanks for the idea that you give us a phrase on every Monday.

    Reply
    • Ryan O'Loughlin says

      Hi Kati, Whoa, interesting to see you have a similar-meaning phrase!

      Reply
  8. Natalija says

    Hi Ryan,
    it is very useful for my way of learning.
    Greetings from Serbia.
    Natalija.

    Reply
    • Ryan O'Loughlin says

      Hi Natalija, great! Greetings from America 🙂

      Reply
  9. Sahai says

    Hi Ryan ,it is very useful phrase for me. I know it in my language but in English I know right now. Thanks. I have been waiting for next one. .

    Reply
    • Ryan O'Loughlin says

      Great, thanks Sahai!

      Reply
  10. Yelena says

    Thank you! It’s just what I was looking for for my shopping vocabulary.

    Reply
    • Ryan O'Loughlin says

      Perfect, Yelena!

      Reply
  11. Samar says

    good morning .. here is my example as a conversation
    John; how was your trip
    marry: it was wonderful. it was the best trip ever in my life
    John: I think it was worth it. you get what you paid

    have a nice day

    Reply
    • Ryan O'Loughlin says

      Hi Samar! Thanks for your comment. Very good, here are some minor corrections:

      Good morning. Here is my example as a conversation:
      John: How was your trip?
      Mary: It was wonderful. It was the best trip of my life.
      John: I think it was worth it. you get what you paid for.

      Reply

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About Ryan O’Loughlin


In 2009, after graduating from the University of Pittsburgh, I left my hometown in the United States to go on an adventure teaching English in South Korea.I went to Korea by myself. I didn’t know anyone in South Korea. I couldn’t speak Korean. I was nervous and excited to continue the next part of my life journey. It’s been great, but it hasn’t always been easy. [Continue reading]"
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