Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth definition
Don’t question the value of a gift. The proverb refers to the practice of evaluating the age of a horse by looking at its teeth. This practice is also the source of the expression “long in the tooth,” meaning old.
never look a gift horse in the mouth saying
Meaning: said to advise someone not to refuse something good that is being offered
Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth
Meaning
Don’t be ungrateful when you receive a gift.
Origin
Proverbs are ‘short and expressive sayings, in common use, which are recognized as conveying some accepted truth or useful advice’. This example, also often expressed as ‘never look a gift horse in the mouth’, is as pertinent today as it ever was.
As horses develop they grow more teeth and their existing teeth begin to change shape and project further forward. Determining a horse’s age from its teeth is a specialist task, but it can be done. This incidentally is also the source of another teeth/age related phrase — long in the tooth.
The advice given in the ‘don’t look…’ proverb is: when receiving a gift be grateful for what it is; don’t imply you wished for more by assessing its value.
As with most proverbs the origin is ancient and unknown. We have some clues with this one however. The phrase appears in print in English in 1546, as “don’t look a given horse in the mouth”, in John Heywood’s A dialogue conteinyng the nomber in effect of all the prouerbes in the Englishe tongue, where he gives it as:
“No man ought to looke a geuen hors in the mouth.”
It is probable that Heywood obtained the phrase from a Latin text of St. Jerome, The Letter to the Ephesians, circa AD 400, which contains the text ‘Noli equi dentes inspicere donati’ (Never inspect the teeth of a given horse). Where St Jerome got it from we aren’t ever likely to know.
Heywood is an interesting character in the development of English. He was employed at the courts of Henry VIII and Mary I as a singer, musician, and playwright. His Proverbs is a comprehensive collection of those sayings known at the time and includes many that are still with us:
- Many hands make light work
- Rome wasn’t built in a day
- A good beginning makes a good ending
and so on. These were expressed in the literary language of the day, as in “would yee both eat your cake, and have your cake?”, but the modern versions are their obvious descendents.
We can’t attribute these to Heywood himself; he collected them from the literary works of the day and from common parlance. He can certainly be given the credit for introducing many proverbs to a wide and continuing audience, including one that Shakespeare later borrowed — All’s well that ends well.
look a gift horse in the mouth
Fig. to be ungrateful to someone who gives you something; to treat someone who gives you a gift badly. (Usually with a negative.) Never look a gift horse in the mouth. I advise you not to look a gift horse in the mouth.
look a gift horse in the mouth
Be critical or suspicious of something received at no cost. For example, Dad’s old car is full of dents, but we shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. This term, generally expressed as a cautionary proverb ( Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth), has been traced to the writings of the 4th-century cleric, St. Jerome, and has appeared in English since about 1500. It alludes to determining the age of a horse by looking at its teeth.
look a gift horse in the mouth find fault with what has been given or be ungrateful for an opportunity.
The Latin version of the proverb don’t look a gift horse in the mouth (noli…equi dentes inspicere donati ) was known to St Jerome in the early 5th century ad. The 16th-century English form was do not look a given horse in the mouth .
1998 New Scientist The JAMA paper offers this advice to researchers involved in industry-funded studies: ‘At times it may be prudent… to look a gift horse in the mouth’.
(not) look a ˌgift horse in the ˈmouth (informal) (not) find something wrong with something given to you free: He didn’t want to accept the offer of a free meal but I told him not to look a gift horse in the mouth.The usual way to judge the age of a horse is to look at its teeth.
never look a gift horse in the mouth meaning
When receiving a gift from someone, do not be ungrateful.
Example: After receiving a gift from someone, rather than being grateful, what if instead the person who received the gift started to analyze it to see if it measured up to their standards? The giver might see this sort of behavior as rude. Thus, this saying is sometimes directed at those who show this such conduct when receiving a gift.
A proverb that goes back to at least the 16th century. For example, John Heywood, who
is thought to have lived from the years 1497–1580 C.E., is said to have wrote the saying in
a book of his called A dialogue conteinyng the nomber in effect of all the prouerbes in the
englishe tongue, 1546:
“Where gifts be given freely — east, west, north or south —
No man ought to look a given horse in the mouth.”
* Bob preferred to wear light colored shirts, but his friend bought him several dark colored ones as a gift. Bob decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth and and thanked his friend for the shirts.
