What is the meaning of this expression, “long in the tooth”? Does that mean experienced? Or, something that goes way back, like an old friendship? Can you use it in a sentence for me? (As you can tell, I’ve never heard this expression until recently.) - Jinx
My dentist told me it relates to the gums receding as we age thus the teeth look longer.
Maybe he does horses as well.
Thanks for the background of its origin, but what does it mean when people use it casually, and how would one use it in a sentence…as I’ve only caught this expression in passing. I forget the context.
Thanks again,
Jinx
As the link says :
Long in the tooth means ‘elderly; old’, and by extension ‘past one’s prime; over the hill’.
It’s also the basis of the phrase “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth”. If you did, you could tell the age of the horse by the length of it’s teeth.
So someone might say something like, “My car is starting looking a bit long in the tooth” meaning it is looking old and shabby.
I seem to recall reading something about it being derived from the way elephant tusks grow as they age, and in some cases with really, really old elephants, the tusk curled around and penetrated the skull.