A good horse is never a bad color?

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Could you please help me make sense of this sentence:

A good horse is never a bad color? It seems this is the title of a book but maybe it’s also an idiom? Have you ever heard this phrase and if in what context?

Thanks in advance,
Torsten[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, photographs: Packing the meat[YSaerTTEW443543]

2

Hi Torsten,

A quick search has revealed this:

This is apparently an American expression but your expression is new to me.

Alan

3

Hmm… I’d understand that means: when you love/like someone (your horse :)) it almost does not matter, how he/she looks.
Your lovely horse always has just the ‘right’ colour, in this sense.

4

Hi Torsten

The expression “That’s a horse of a different color” means “That’s another matter entirely”. It’s a well-known expression in the US.

Your sentence sounds like a play on that expression. My literal interpretation of your quote is:
A well-trained (i.e., useful) horse is valuable no matter what color it is.

Amy

5

Hello everybody

I am translating one proverb from my language into English. This proverb seems more or less like what Torsten discussed.

1- A bad cover cannot hide a good book.

OR:

1- A good book does not have a bad cover.

Tom

6

Hi Tom

That reminds me of this English expression:

You can’t judge a book by its cover. :smiley:

Amy

7

Hi

All is not gold that glitters.
(Just one small step more :wink: :))

(By the way, In Russian it is exactly the same.)

8

This proverb has the opposite meaning, don’t you think? We say it in Spanish too, but the one I prefer is:

Aunque la mona se vista de seda, mona se queda (Although the monkey dresses in silk, she is still a monkey) – You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

9

Hi

Yes, Conchita, I know. It was just a (joking, but quite logical :)) next step to the oppisite meaning

from: A bad cover cannot hide a good book.
through: You can’t judge a book by its cover.
to: All is not gold that glitters.

Just a joke… :slight_smile:

More seriously: the more suitable equivalent I know is:
‘fine dress helps to impress, but conversation/a good mind makes one what he is’
(‘Clothes do not make a man.’)

:slight_smile: