Ever heard the saying “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth” and wondered what the heck that meant or where the phrase originated?

Me too, and I was 90% it wasn’t the classic 90s Hootie & the Blowfish lyrics I know that use it.

The phrase, in an allegorical sense, suggests that you should be grateful for a gift and not be ungrateful or highly speculative.

Where this phrase originates is rather simple. The age of horses is often determined by their teeth and in the horse world, a young horse will typically be more valuable than an older one. The phrase “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth” originated as it would be rude to inspect a horse’s mouth to asses the age if that horse is a gift.