“Long in the Tooth”
💭 Meaning
To be “long in the tooth” is to be getting old, or past one’s prime; it’s often used with a bit of humor for people, and also for things like gadgets, cars, or traditions that are showing their age.
✍️ Examples
Henry’s laptop was getting long in the tooth, taking a full minute just to open a document.
The veteran quarterback was a little long in the tooth, but he still threw the best deep ball in the league.
The old theater, long in the tooth but full of charm, still draws a crowd every weekend.
📜 Origin
The phrase comes from horse trading. As a horse ages, its gums recede, which makes its teeth look longer, so buyers learned to judge a horse’s age by checking its mouth. That’s the same logic behind the saying “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.” The figurative use for people shows up in English by the 19th century, and it spread as a wry way to say someone is getting on in years. It’s now used for anything that has seen better days, from aging athletes to outdated technology. The exact first use is hard to pin down, but the horse-dentistry root is the one most sources agree on.
