Don’t Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth
Posted: 08 August 2004 10:18 AM
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Hi, Everyone!
The expression "Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth" arose the other day in a conversation with a friend of ours, my wife’s and mine.
Would anyone know the origin of this expression?
Regards, dear Members
Posted: 08 August 2004 10:26 AM
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[ # 1 ]
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Someone purchasing a horse checks it carefully. One of those checks was for its actual age (mileage!) by checking its teeth. The longer the teeth, the older the horse. (Remember the idiom "a little long in the tooth"?)
The idea is that when you are given a gift, you shouldn’t be scrutinizing it for faults.
gailr
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Posted: 08 August 2004 12:29 PM
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From what I understand, in addition to the age of the horse, the teeth also reveal a lot about the health of the animal. So inspecting the horse’s mouth was a way to make sure you were getting a healthy horse.
-Tim
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For myself, I find I become less cynical rather than more… and realize that men’s hearts are not often as bad as their acts, and very seldom as bad as their words. - JRR Tolkien
Posted: 08 August 2004 10:08 PM
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Posted: 15 August 2004 03:41 PM
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I didn’t know English had an expression so alike to the Spanish one: "A caballo regalado, no se le mira el diente"
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Posted: 15 August 2004 06:05 PM
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In Swedish, it is the mouth:
"Skåda inte given häst i munnen."
look not given horse in the-mouth
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“Those are my principles, and if you don’t like them… well, I have others.” - Groucho Marx
Posted: 16 August 2004 12:36 AM
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Of course if the horse is very large and made of wood, check the underbelly for trap doors.
Perry
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“...or do I misconstrue?” (acronym = odim?) David Gaynes (too many times to put a date on it!)
Posted: 19 August 2004 03:49 AM
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My best laugh today. Thank you, Perry!
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“Those are my principles, and if you don’t like them… well, I have others.” - Groucho Marx
Posted: 25 September 2004 12:32 PM
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The corresponding French expression is :
À cheval donné, on ne regarde pas la bride.
Verbum
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In principio erat Verbum
Posted: 25 September 2004 01:15 PM
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In Portuguese:
A cavalo dado não se olham os dentes.
Brazilian dude
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Languages rule!
Posted: 26 September 2004 08:07 PM
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In Dutch:
Je mag een gegeven paard niet in de bek kijken.
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Spaceman Spiff&&&&History; is sad, because she is time, and knows she will be forgotten. (Andrey Platonov)
Posted: 21 October 2004 07:45 PM
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Spanish:
[I]A caballo regalado no le mires el diente.[/I]
Regards,
WS.
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[I]Nuestras horas son minutos / cuando esperamos saber / y siglos cuando sabemos / lo que se puede aprender.[/I] Antonio Machado
Posted: 22 October 2004 07:34 AM
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[quote author=Perry link=board=idiom;num=1092007131;start=0#7 date=08/16/04 at 09:36:30]Of course if the horse is very large and made of wood, check the underbelly for trap doors.
Perry
Or as an old Mad Magazine "Beware of gifts bearing Greeks!"
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Regards//Larry &&&&“Her heart was as cold as a stone at the bottom of a mountain lake.” )&& Travis McGee on Bonita Hersch, Nightmare in Pink (John D. MacDonald)
Posted: 22 October 2004 11:49 AM
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[quote author=Stargzer link=board=idiom;num=1092007131;start=0#13 date=10/22/04 at 16:34:28]Mad Magazine "Beware of gifts bearing Greeks!"
or geeks baring gif.s.
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Love is not blind - it sees more, not less. But &∵ it sees more, it is willing to see less.&& —Rabbi Julius Gordon&&Mellilla;, quid sentis?
Posted: 22 October 2004 03:08 PM
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“Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.”—Douglas Adams
Posted: 19 January 2005 03:39 AM
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I can’t seem to recall any Japanese or Chinese sayings expressing this sentiment, but I am sure they exist. Flam ? Anders ?...
Henri
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Ad turpia nemo obligatur.
