Never look a gift horse in the mouth?

kanie · #1 (permalink) Wed Nov 10, 2004 10:59 am *Never look a gift horse in the mouth?*

Test No. incompl/inter-14 "Popular Idioms (1)", question 10

Never look a gift horse in the ..........

(a) mouth
(b) eye
(c) nose
(d) teeth

Test No. incompl/inter-14 "Popular Idioms (1)", answer 10

Never look a gift horse in the mouth.

Correct answer: (a) mouth

Your answer was: correct
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what does is mean for " Never look a gift horse in the mouth"

Torsten

You should not complain if a gift is not perfect (after all, it's just a gift).
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Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

dgc · #3 (permalink) Thu Dec 09, 2004 20:03 pm *Gift horse*

has to have something to do with the fall of Troy

Torsten · #4 (permalink) Fri Dec 10, 2004 7:06 am *Never look a gift horse in the mouth?*

Well, the expression to look a gift horse in the mouth is so old that its origins are very difficult to determine. As far as I know it has been traced to the writings of St. Jerome who labeled it a common saying. Interestingly enough the expression also occurs in French; Spanish; Italian, German and other languages of Europe.
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Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

Ella · #5 (permalink) Sun Apr 10, 2005 21:59 pm *Never look a gift horse in the mouth?*

That is because if you buy a horse you always look at its teeth to tell its age, and thus its value. In Russian we use the word teeth not mouth in the similar proverb. That's why I made a mistake here.

Mosteque · #6 (permalink) Mon Apr 11, 2005 9:53 am *Never look a gift horse in the mouth?*

same in polish Smile

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obsequium amicos, veritas odium parit

Guest · #7 (permalink) Sun Apr 17, 2005 17:53 pm *Never look a gift horse in the mouth?*

And same in Spanish, but with tooth, instead of teeth.

Rich7 · #8 (permalink) Mon Apr 18, 2005 9:31 am *Rich*

We say:" a caballo regalao no se le mira colmillo"

We use "colmillo" for fang because is the largest and noticeable of the teeth.

Mosteque · #9 (permalink) Mon Apr 18, 2005 20:29 pm *Never look a gift horse in the mouth?*

unfortunately a horse has no colmillo Very Happy

_________________
obsequium amicos, veritas odium parit

Rich7 · #10 (permalink) Wed Apr 20, 2005 5:42 am *Yes*

Yes I, we know but that's the way it is.

Oana · #11 (permalink) Mon Jun 13, 2005 17:07 pm *Gift horse...*

same in Romanian. hehe, we all did the same mistake because of that... the good thing is that now at least we know and we won't do it again.

Velina

And same in Bulgarian teeth!!!!
Smile

Planta · #13 (permalink) Sat Nov 07, 2009 2:38 am *Never look a gift horse in the mouth?*

My Brazilian 2 cents : "teeth" in Portuguese too. ;o)

Gift cheers!
Planta

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