Paying through the nose:
If you pay through the nose for something, you pay a very high price for it.
There are a couple of competing folk derivations of this phrase, but they are regarded by philologists as somewhat far-fetched.
One derivation holds that it is a reference to the Danish poll tax on the Irish in the ninth century. The story goes that the Danes slit the noses of non-payers. However the phrase did not appear in print until 1672.
Annother possible explanation is placed on Viking raiders. Vikings would require the payment of tribute from cities they did not raid. If the king refused to pay tribute they would slit their noses. Hence, the king paid "through" the nose.
Another explanation relies on the use of rhino as a slang for money. Rhinos is the Greek word for nose, thus a rather loose connection is supposed to be set up between paying and noses. A nosebleed as a metaphor for being "bled dry" of money.
In sixteenth century English, Italian, Greek and Latin, however, there is found an already well established expression "to lead by the nose," which means to force or control someone's actions as a farmer would lead a bull by a ring through its nose. It also has connotations of making a fool of someone. ( 'led by the nose, as asses are' (Othello, Act I, Sc 3). Thus to pay through the nose could have originated as an extension of this to denote payment for something at a premium because of lack of alternative options.