never look a gift horse in the tooth
the other day, i was looking up the origin of the phrase "long in the tooth" as i myself am feeling a little long in the tooth lately. i think i had a momentary obsession with the idea that the gums might recede and recede until the teeth just have nothing left to hold onto and fall out. gross thought, i know, but i'm the daughter of a former dentist. by the way, i could be completely wrong about gums/teeth, but my point is: i was looking up that phrase.
apparently it's a reference to horses -- whose teeth don't ever stop growing; the longer the tooth, the older the horse. i read it on the internet, so it's entirely possible this isn't true either, but it did seem to be widely reported.
incidentally, the article i was reading also mentioned how "never look a gift horse in the mouth" is a reference to this; basically, when you get a gift horse, you don't check its mouth to see how old it is because that's rude! well, that makes sense.
i have never gotten a gift horse, but i 100% believed up until the other day that you should "never look a gift horse in the mouth" because it will kick the shit out of you.
that's right. all my life i've been fearing looking-gift-horse-in-mouth biting & brutality.
this seemed worth documenting, so here it is for posterity.
hey internet, i'm an idiot and i might be afraid of horses!
AM I ALONE ON THIS? did anyone else out there think that looking a gift horse in the mouth lead directly to injury? gift horses have tempers, you know.
i'm pretty cool with getting a gift horse, though, if anyone has one lying around waiting to be regifted.
apparently it's a reference to horses -- whose teeth don't ever stop growing; the longer the tooth, the older the horse. i read it on the internet, so it's entirely possible this isn't true either, but it did seem to be widely reported.
incidentally, the article i was reading also mentioned how "never look a gift horse in the mouth" is a reference to this; basically, when you get a gift horse, you don't check its mouth to see how old it is because that's rude! well, that makes sense.
i have never gotten a gift horse, but i 100% believed up until the other day that you should "never look a gift horse in the mouth" because it will kick the shit out of you.
that's right. all my life i've been fearing looking-gift-horse-in-mouth biting & brutality.
this seemed worth documenting, so here it is for posterity.
hey internet, i'm an idiot and i might be afraid of horses!
AM I ALONE ON THIS? did anyone else out there think that looking a gift horse in the mouth lead directly to injury? gift horses have tempers, you know.
i'm pretty cool with getting a gift horse, though, if anyone has one lying around waiting to be regifted.