gift horse

noun

Etymology

From the economics of horse ownership, in which an aging horse of declining value continues to require feeding and stabling. Possibly influenced by the proverb don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

Definitions

  1. An apparent gift, that has substantial associated costs or drawbacks, especially a gift…

    An apparent gift, that has substantial associated costs or drawbacks, especially a gift that does not fit perfectly with the recipient's wants or needs.

    • To human beings, on the other hand, each meme vehicle is a potential friend or foe, bearing a gift that will enhance our powers or a gift horse that will distract us, burden our memories, derange our judgment.
    • "Don't worry. You can keep them. You don't have to pay for them." / Well, a gift horse and all that. I took the sneakers.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for gift horse. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA