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Talk:don't look a gift horse in the mouth

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Latest comment: 1 year ago by DCDuring in topic Letter to the Ephesians?

"gift horse"

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If the phrase was originally "given horse," the Etymology section needs to provide when "gift horse" was first substituted for "given horse" in print. 71.66.97.228 23:25, 24 April 2010 (UTC)Reply

The substitution occurred in 1663 in Butler’s Hudibras, because the iambic tetrameter required a shortening:
He ne’er consider'd it, as loth
To look a Gift-horse in the mouth. —Stephen 11:13, 25 April 2010 (UTC)Reply

Thanks, added to entry. 71.66.97.228 05:23, 26 April 2010 (UTC)Reply

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Some of the better links that I found:

-Dan Polansky (talk) 07:28, 21 June 2014 (UTC)Reply

Other language Wiki(pedia)s seem to quote “Noli equi dentes inspicere donati”

Asimong (talk) 14:16, 28 August 2023 (UTC)Reply

Letter to the Ephesians?

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The Letter to the Ephesians doesn't have the word "horse" in it, so I'm wondering what the last sentence of the Etymology section is referring to. If this is just referring to his own translation of Ephesians (with "horse" added, for some reason), then a source should be provided. — This comment was unsigned.

The etymology doesn't say it is in Ephesians; it says the expression is a translation of something in or derived from St. Jerome's commentary on Ephesians. DCDuring (talk) 17:13, 28 August 2023 (UTC) DCDuring (talk) 17:13, 28 August 2023 (UTC)Reply