Zahnpflege & Mundhygiene

Dental philosophy around your teeth

Zahn-Philosophie rund um deine Zähne

As part of our dental philosophy blog series We have already presented you the most popular dental idioms In today's blog post, we will explain to you what the expressions and metaphors "armed to the teeth", "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth", "pulling someone's tooth" and "just for the hollow tooth" mean.

Phrases about your teeth

Surely you have already experienced one of the following phrases in everyday language use used or heard:

  • Armed to the Teeth
  • Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth
  • Pulling someone's tooth
  • Only for the hollow tooth


Tooth Saying 6: Armed to the Teeth

Meaning: Someone is equipped with many weapons

Not only hair but also teeth are considered to be symbols of the upper body. Armed to the teeth therefore symbolizes the entire body. Armed to the teeth therefore describes a A person who is equipped with weapons all over his body.

Nowadays, this expression is no longer used only for armament in the sense of real firearms, but also on an intellectual or craft level.

Tooth saying 7: An eye for an eye – a tooth for a tooth

Meaning: Repay like with like (Bible)

The saying “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” means that you should always treat someone the way they treat you. So like should always be repaid with likeIn German, this saying has more negative connotations than positive ones and is often associated with revenge or retaliation. Many people overlook the fact that like can also be repaid with like in a positive sense.

This phrase actually has its origins in the Bible. In a long list of rules for regulating damages that are to be applied in disputes, Moses gives the people the following advice: "If there is further damage, then you must give: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, brand for brand, wound for wound, stripe for stripe..." (Exodus 21:24)

Although these rules sound like revenge and retribution today, they once provided a certain level of security. These rules limit the extent of retribution to just one person. The family is always left out.

Tooth phrase 8: To pull someone's tooth

Meaning: To dissuade someone from a bad idea

When you pull someone’s tooth, you want to dissuade from a bad idea or notionThis colloquial but very common expression compares a realistic idea to a firmly grown tooth, the removal of which would be incredibly painful. Dissuading people from an idea or concept is just as often mentally painful.

Tooth Saying 9: Only for the hollow tooth

Meaning: Too little food/Too small a meal!

You have probably heard the expression “for the hollow tooth” before. Used more casually, this expression means eating little. A small portion will fill the hollow tooth after consumption, but not the stomach.

To prevent the said hollow tooth, we recommend that you brush your teeth daily with our emmi®-dent ultrasonic toothbrush. You can remove telltale deposits and plaque with our Mira-Dent 2-tone tooth coloring tablets track down.


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