Meaningless Sayings.
Random fact for the day: A horse's teeth progress further down its jaw as it ages, and so the relative protrusion of the teeth can be used to assess its age. That's what you're looking for when you look in a horse's mouth . . . in fact, that's about the only reason I can think of why someone would specifically want to look in a horse's mouth, unless they were researching equine dentistry.
The expression "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth", therefore, means something along the lines of "When given a gift, don't be ungrateful by examining it to learn its value". Of course the idea of being given a gift extends from literally being given a gift to the idea of of being given something by fate, or circumstance.
Something always bothered me about that expression, but I've never heard it often enough to bother thinking too hard about it. But, I was recently reminded of it, and, having looked up the precise definition of it, I've reached the conclusion that this expression is simply idiotic. If you don't look, how do you know what you've been given?
Our language is full of some pretty strange things, sometimes.
The expression "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth", therefore, means something along the lines of "When given a gift, don't be ungrateful by examining it to learn its value". Of course the idea of being given a gift extends from literally being given a gift to the idea of of being given something by fate, or circumstance.
Something always bothered me about that expression, but I've never heard it often enough to bother thinking too hard about it. But, I was recently reminded of it, and, having looked up the precise definition of it, I've reached the conclusion that this expression is simply idiotic. If you don't look, how do you know what you've been given?
Our language is full of some pretty strange things, sometimes.