born in a barn

English

Adjective

born in a barn (not comparable)

1. (idiomatic) In a past tense: criticizing the person to whom the phrase is directed for inappropriately, and usually neglectingly, leaving an exterior door or window open, considered ill-mannered.
   • 2006 October 20, Heather Murphy, “The More the Merrier?”, in Washington Post, retrieved 15 September 2008:

     Neither bothered to lock or shut the house's front or back doors. "It was like they had been born in a barn," she says.

2. (idiomatic) In a past tense: criticizing the person to whom the phrase is directed as lacking a sense of etiquette or being ill-mannered.
   • 1971, Joyce Carol Oates, Wonderland: A Novel, Vanguard Press, page 76:

     His aunt said angrily: "Fritz, were you born in a barn? Don't you have any manners?"

   • 2002 June 19, Ruth Ann Baker, “Even wolves behave in the pack”, in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, retrieved 15 September 2008, page N4:

     Phone at a symphony concert? I'd ask if these people were born in a barn, but that would disrespect the animals.

Usage notes

• Usually used in a rhetorical question directed toward a person who leaves a door open, or who displays rudeness or ignorance: Were you born in a barn?

Synonyms

• (lacking etiquette): raised by wolves, raised in a barn