What Does “Straight from the Horse’s Mouth” Mean?
The following post is from Comeback Kid: 101 Short Stories, Essays, and Insights to Improve Communication Skills
‘From the horse’s mouth’ is a figure of expression which is defined as:
-Hearing from the person directly concerned or another authoritative source.
This concept is more important than ever.
There are 2 reasons why.
- One reason is due to how easy it is to edit.
- Second reason is because a lot of ‘subject matter experts’ do not know what they are talking about.
For reason one, editing is a lot like coding.
Back in the days, if you were going to code, you needed punch cards.
It was a highly manual process.
But as tech improved, it became easier to debug code.
Back in the days, a lot of editors used scissors.
They would collect the film.
And if they needed to make adjustments, then there would be people with scissors snipping away.
Nowadays?
It’s easy to edit.
You just click Control B and delete.
Since it’s so easy to edit, it’s easier than ever to take people out of context.
That is what a lot of sinister people do.
They chop away pieces of content to present a distorted message to the masses that sparks a reaction.
So if you see someone you trust being presented in a negative light…
Rather than taking the snippet alone at face value, it’s best to hear it from the horse’s mouth.
-What were they really trying to say?
The distortion doesn’t only happen with content.
The distortion also happens with gossip.
‘Joey was talking shit about me?? I just gave him a ride to the airport. Ungrateful bastard.’
Before taking Lucy’s word at face value.
Best to hear from Joey before cutting ties.
The second reason to hear from the horse’s mouth is because a lot of ignorant people are vocal.
Many learn just to show off how ‘smart’ they are.
But they are in no position to be teaching.
They barely grasp the fundamentals.
There was one time I was listening to a podcast.
There was a girl on the show who was talking about the Vedas.
She was talking about how the Vedas are a story that was created by a few people.
She was delivering her statements with the utmost confidence.
The person I was watching it with was furious.
The furious person studied the Vedas for a while.
And this person was like:
‘This girl on the show has no clue what the Vedas are!’
A lot of ideas are not grasped at the fundamental root.
Yet, the person is over here speaking about it.
This person is vocal.
And often, this person is heavily biased.
There have been a few times I was like:
‘That idea? Nah, I wouldn’t ever rock with that idea. Johannes told me that idea was whack.’
But was Johannes well equipped to teach me about that idea?
In this case, going to the horse’s mouth is studying about the idea that got a reaction out of me before forming an opinion.
This is easy in theory, but very difficult to do.
Wise individuals learn how NOT to have an opinion.
That doesn’t mean they won’t ever have an opinion on the matter (or it may mean exactly that).
But it means that in a world of misinformation, biases, and lies…
They’re waiting to understand rather than just have an opinion for the sake of having an opinion.
They think:
‘Let me know what I’m talking about. Otherwise, I’m going to hear it from the horse’s mouth before making any rash judgments.’
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