Don’t Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth
Here is the final phrase from our series on horse mouth idioms. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth means that you should always be grateful when someone give you a gift. In this idiom, the gift is a horse. Horses were very important through human history and receiving one as a gift was an honor. As we have learned, you can find out how old a horse is by looking at their teeth (long in the tooth). So, if you did this after receiving a horse as a gift, it would look like you don’t trust the gift-giver (straight from the horse’s mouth). Instead, you should just be grateful and say, “thank you,” when someone gives you a gift.
Example: My grandfather gave me an ugly sweater for Christmas. I am not going to complain because you should never look a gift horse in the mouth.
This phrase is very old and dates back to at least 1546 when John Heywood wrote, "No man ought to looke a geuen hors in the mouth.” (No man ought to look a given horse in the mouth) The phrase is likely much older than that.
Have you ever received a gift that you didn’t like?
What did you do?
For more English phrases and quotes, follow me on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ESL-ToyBox-112152010890485