Calque from 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.
don't look a gift horse in the mouth
- One should not unappreciatively question or inspect a gift too closely.
1546, John Heywood, (Please provide the book title or journal name):
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)
- Venetan: 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)
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- Gregory Y. Titelman, Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, 1996, →ISBN, p. 69.
