don't look a gift horse in the mouth

English

WOTD – 17 December 2009

Alternative forms

• never look a gift horse in the mouth

Etymology

Calque of Latin expressions such as equi dentes inspicere donati (“to inspect the teeth of a provided horse”) in St. Jerome's c. 400 Preface to the Commentaries of the Letter to the Ephesians (Commentariorum in Epistolam ad Ephesios Libri Tres), which designates it as a "common proverb" (vulgare proverbium). The ultimate referrent is inspection of horses' teeth as a way of ascertaining their age and value.

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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Proverb

don't look a gift horse in the mouth

1. One should not unappreciatively question or inspect a gift too closely.
   • 1546, John Heywood, (Please provide the book title or journal name):

     No man ought to looke a geuen hors in the mouth.

   • 1663, Samuel Butler, Hudibras:

     He ne’er consider'd it, as loth
     To look a Gift-horse in the mouth.

Synonyms

• beggars can't be choosers, something is better than nothing, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush; see also Thesaurus:satisfactory

Related terms

• long in the tooth
• straight from the horse's mouth

Translations

a phrase referring to unappreciatively questioning of a gift or handout too closely

• Albanian: kalit të falur nuk i shikohen dhëmbët, kalit të falur nuk i këqyren dhëmbët
• Armenian: նւիրւած ձիու ատամները չեն հաշւի (nwirwac jiu atamnerə čʻen hašwi)
• Basque: dohainik edan behar duenak, hitz gutti
• Bulgarian: на харизан кон зъбите не се гледат (na harizan kon zǎbite ne se gledat)
• Catalan: a cavall regalat, no li miris el dentat
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不要對禮物吹毛求疵／不要对礼物吹毛求疵 (bùyào duì lǐwù chuīmáoqiúcī), 不要對禮物挑三揀四／不要对礼物挑三拣四 (bùyào duì lǐwù tiāosānjiǎnsì)

• Czech: darovanému koni na zuby nekoukej, darovanému koni na zuby nehleď (cs)
• Danish: sku ikke en given hest i munden
• Dutch: een gegeven paard niet in de bek kijken (nl)
• Estonian: kingitud hobuse suhu ei vaadata
• Finnish: lahjahevosen suuhun ei saa katsoa
• French: à cheval donné, on ne regarde pas la bouche, à cheval donné on ne regarde pas les dents (fr), à cheval donné on ne regarde pas la bride (fr), à cheval donné on ne regarde pas la denture (fr)
• Galician: o cabalo regalado, cólleo con ollos pechados, a cabalo regalado no se lle mira o dente
• German: einem geschenkten Gaul schaut man nicht ins Maul (de), einem geschenkten Gaul sieht man nicht ins Maul, einem geschenkten Gaul guckt man nicht ins Maul
• Greek: του χαρίζανε γάιδαρο και τον κοίταζε στα δόντια (tou charízane gáidaro kai ton koítaze sta dóntia)
• Hungarian: ajándék lónak ne nézd a fogát (hu)
• Icelandic: ekki vera vanþakklátur
• Italian: a caval donato non si guarda in bocca
• Latin: equī dōnātī dentēs nōn īnspiciuntur, equī dōnātī dentēs nōn sunt īnspiciendī, nōlī equī dentēs īnspicere dōnātī
• Latvian: dāvātam zirgam zobos neskatās, dāvinātam zirgam zobos neskatās
• Lithuanian: dovanotam arkliui į dantis nežiūri
• Luxembourgish: engem geschenkte Gaul kuckt een net an d'Maul
• Mongolian: бэлгийн морины шүд татдаггүй (belgiin moriny šüd tatdaggüj)
• Persian: ^{(please verify)} دندونای اسب پیشکش رو نمی شمورند, دندون اسب پیشکشی رو نمی‌شمرند
• Polish: darowanemu koniowi nie zagląda się w zęby, darowanemu koniowi w zęby się nie zagląda (pl), darowanemu koniowi nie zaglądaj w zęby, darowanemu koniowi w zęby się nie patrzy
• Portuguese: a cavalo dado não se olha os dentes, a cavalo dado não se olha o dente
• Romanian: calul de dar nu se caută la dinți, calul de dar nu se caută în gură
• Russian: дарёному коню́ в зу́бы не смо́трят (darjónomu konjú v zúby ne smótrjat)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: поклоњеном коњу се не гледа у зубе

  Roman: poklonjenom konju se ne gleda u zube

• Slovak: darovanému koňovi sa na zuby nepozeraj
• Slovene: podarjenemu konju se ne gleda v zobe
• Spanish: a caballo regalado no se le miran los dientes, a caballo regalado no le mires el diente, a caballo regalado, no le mires el dentado (es), a caballo regalado, no le mires el diente (es), a caballo regalado, no se le ve el colmillo
• Swedish: skåda inte given häst i munnen
• Telugu: పాపమని పాత చీర ఇస్తే గోడ చాటుకు వెళ్ళి మూర వేసిందట (pāpamani pāta cīra istē gōḍa cāṭuku veḷḷi mūra vēsindaṭa)
• Turkish: üzümünü ye bağını sorma, hediye atın dişine bakılmaz
• Ukrainian: дарованому коневі в зуби не дивляться (darovanomu konevi v zuby ne dyvljatʹsja)
• Venetian: a caval donà no se ghe varda in boca
• Yiddish: אַ געשענקט פֿערד קוקט מען נישט אין די ציינער (a geshenkt ferd kukt men nisht in di tseyner)

See also

• Trojan horse

References

• Gregory Y. Titelman, Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, 1996, →ISBN, p. 69.