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There are lots of potential reasons you might now want to look a gift horse in the mouth. Maybe the horse has terrible breath. Maybe its mouth is full of killer bees. Or maybe it's just not polite to do so. A "gift horse" is just what it sounds like -- a horse given as a present. According to our good friends at Mavens' Word of the Day, the expression "refers to the practice of gauging a horse's age by the condition of its teeth." So if someone were to give you a horse with absolutely no strings attached, it wouldn't be right to question its value by examining its teeth. You should just accept it and be grateful. Mavens' also mentions that some folks mistakenly believe the expression actually refers to the famous
Trojan horse full of soldiers. Of course, this isn't true. If it were, the expression would very likely be "You should always look a gift horse in the mouth, because it may be full of Greek warriors who want to kill you."
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