Never look a gift horse in the mouth?

Posted by ESC on December 09, 2004

In Reply to: Never look a gift horse in the mouth? posted by Torsten Daerr on December 09, 2004

: Hello everybody,

: Does the saying 'Never look a gift horse in the mouth' have anything to do with the Fall of Troy? Thanks in advance.

I don't think so.

NEVER LOOK A GIFT HORSE IN THE MOUTH - According to Charles Earle Funk in A Hog on Ice (Harper & Row, New York, 1948), the expression "to look a gift horse in the mouth" is "...so old that its origins cannot be determined. It has been traced to the writings of St. Jerome, one of the L*tin Fathers of the fourth century, who then labeled it a common proverb. The expression, or a variant proverb, occurs in French, Italian, Spanish, and other languages of Europe. The reference is, of course, to the bad manners displayed by one who receives a gift if he examines it for defects. Up to a certain age, the age of a horse can be determined by looking at its teeth; though it may appear to be young and frisky, the number or condition of teeth may show it to be almost fit for nothing but the glue-works."

• Never look a gift horse in the mouth? Brian from Shawnee 09/December/04
  • Don't look a gift horse in the mouth Brian from Shawnee 09/December/04

See: the meaning and origin of the phrase "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth".