Re: Long in the tooth

Posted by R. Berg on January 13, 2001

In Reply to: Re: Long in the tooth posted by ESC on January 13, 2001

: : What does "long in the tooth" mean. I alwasy thought it meant ugly.

: "Long in the tooth" means old. It refers to the fact that one can determine a horse's age by looking at its teeth. A horse's gums recede as it ages causing its teeth to look "long."

And it is from this same fact that we get "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." Two phrases explained for the price of one!

• Re: Long in the tooth Barney 01/13/01
  • Re: Long in the tooth ESC 01/13/01
    • Re: Long in the tooth R. Berg 01/13/01
      • Re: Long in the tooth Barney 01/14/01
        • Re: Long in the tooth ESC 01/14/01
          • Re: Long in the tooth Barney 01/14/01
            • Re: The horse gum question ESC 01/22/01
              • Re: The language expert question R. Berg 01/23/01
                • Re: The language expert question Clayton 02/01/01
        • Re: Long in the tooth RB 01/14/01