From riot women to Hippogriffs, this one’s a ride. In this episode of the Wordplay podcast, we dig into the history of “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth”. A phrase about gratitude, suspicion, and the strange etiquette of receiving things. Rachel actually did the research this time (miracles happen), so expect tales of ancient horse-trading, Buckbeak’s moral compass, and the social minefield of gift-giving. We also spiral into the semantics of generosity, the psychology of saying thank you, and why some gifts come with invisible strings… before, inevitably, beating the dead horse.

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