Sayings

[DrXXX]

On asking someone there age they replied to me '' i'm not as old as my teeth'' anyone know the origin of this or have even heard it said before...Thanks

[Solarjunkie]

My grandmother would always say "I'm as old as my tongue and not quite as old as my teeth".

[saxy_jag]

Slightly different here - "I'm as old as my head and a little bit older than my teeth."

Haven't a clue where it comes from, though.

[Quizmonster]

It's just a sort of 'proverb' based on the idea that - when we are born - we have no teeth, as these grow in later. In other words, we have all been around for some time longer than our teeth have.

[THECORBYLOON]

I've always assumed that the folk say it because by that age, they have false teeth. I doubt they would think about not being born wi teeth.

[Quizmonster]

The standard response when someone asked an old person, "Are these your own teeth?" was, "Of course they are...bought and paid for!"

[heathfield]

The age of a horse can be determined by looking at the teeth.
So I suppose it's based on that, and means 'I'm younger than the condition of my teeth might indicate'!

[brachiopod]

The phrase is usually along the lines of a little bit older than my teeth as per QM's answer, because generally, we are not born with teeth but get them (our adult set) a few years after.
I don't think it has any connection with determining age from teeth as per horses.

The version DrXXX heard seems to have suffered the mangled metaphor syndrome along the same lines as "cheap at half the price"
Once intended to be a deliberate and sarcastic corruption of the original 'cheap at twice the price', it now increasingly and incorrectly seems to be used in place of the original phrase.