look a gift horse in the mouth
look a gift horse in the mouth
find fault with what has been given or be ungrateful for an opportunity
The Latin version of the proverb don't look a gift horse in the mouth was known to St. Jerome in the early 5th century AD. The 16th century English form was do not look a given horse in the mouth.
1998 - New Scientist - The JAMA paper offers this advice to researchers involved in industry funded studies : At times it may be prudent to look a gift horse in the mouth.
RELATED IDIOMS :
the gift of the gab
the ability to speak with eloquence and fluency
Gab, dating from the late 18th century, was an informal word for conversation or chatter. In Scotland it was associated with gab - an early 18th-century dialect variant of gob meaning the mouth.
the gift of tongues
the power of speaking in unknown languages - regarded as one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit
When the disciples of Jesus were filled with the Holy Spirit after Pentecost (Acts 2 : 1 - 4), the gift of tongues was one of the ways in which this phenomenon manifested itself.
God's gift to sport = God's own gift to sport
the ideal or best possible person or thing for someone or something (used chiefly ironically or in negative statements)
1998 - Spectator - Their [the English] hooligans, their pressmen, hell, even their footballers behave as if they were God's own gift to sport.
in the gift of
(of a church living or official appointment) in the power of someone to award
look a gift horse in the mouth :
Idioms Index – Previous Page
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