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Long in the tooth

Posted by Barney on January 13, 2001

In Reply to: Long in the tooth posted by R. Berg 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!

My understanding is that horses continue to experience eruption of new teeth until they are up to 20 years old (in some breeds) and that the number and length of their teeth (which continue to grow throughout the horses life) is therefore a determinate of their age. Retreating gums are more a feature of human aging.

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

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