Long in the tooth

Long in the tooth means someone is old or older than you. As some animals age their gums recede, and this makes their teeth look longer.

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English Idiom: Long in the tooth

We’re all getting a little long in the tooth.


This idiom means someone is older or at least older than you.


As far as I can ascertain, the expression comes from the fact that as some animals, such as horses, age, their gums recede, making their teeth look longer.

So, the older a horse is, the longer its teeth are compared to younger horses.

I suppose many people had horses back in the day, and they then started to use the expression to refer to people.

It is not a rude expression, but I am not sure anybody would like to be told they are old or long in the tooth, so use this idiom wisely.

I tend to use it when I talk about myself and my experience.  

I have 20 years of teaching experience, and because of that, I have been in various teaching situations – one of the benefits of being long in the tooth, I guess.


This post is understandable by someone with at least a 7th-grade education (age 12).  

On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 74.  

The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100.



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