Way with Words: Gift Horse

All your life you’ve received gifts for your birthday or Christmas, so not all of them were going to be exactly what you wanted.

But mother always told you to be happy with what you got and say thank you, she might have even said ‘don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.’

You still might not know exactly what this ‘gift horse’ is, and your mother might not know it either, because the practice of buying, selling and trading horses is a practice very few still participate in.

In days past, when the majority of the population used horses for work and transportation, ensuring quality and the health of the horse was important.

One way to check the health of a horse was to look at the teeth, which was done at the time of the sale. A horse with bad teeth was unhealthy and often not worth the asking price.

Experts could also determine the age of a horse by the number and length of the teeth.

Because of this policy, it was considered rude to check the teeth of a horse that was given as a gift.

Inspecting the mouth of the horse implied that you were wanting more, disrespecting the gift given to you.

A modern day equivalent would be to whip out the smart phone and price check what Auntie got you for Christmas.

The phrase ‘don’t look a gift horse in the mouth’ still holds true, if a bit archaic, teaching the lesson to be grateful for a gift.