Maryrf,

I never realised that "dear = expensive" was odd to Americans - seems natural to me but then I was raised in the UK.

Talking of "dear", half the people working in the "Bus-stop" a cafe on the UBC campus in Vancouver (named because it used to be the bus-loop there) were cockneys, so the patrons were always addressed as dear or dearie etc.

Regards Rana