Learn English – Origin of “eye teeth”

etymology

Today in a UK court Mr Justice Cooke, in passing judgement over three disgraced cricketers, said

The image and integrity of what was once a game but is now a business
is damaged in the eyes of all, including the many youngsters who
regarded you as as heroes and would have given their eye teeth to play
at the levels and with the skills that you had.

I understand that giving your eye teeth means that you want something a lot, but what is the origin of the expression?

(As a native English speaker, I had always thought the expression was "hind teeth" — as in the ones at the back that are painful to extract. It seems that I was wrong in this.)

Best Answer

Eye-teeth

I had thought the term was hind teeth as well, but eye teeth it is. Wikipedia says:

In mammalian oral anatomy, the canine teeth, also called cuspids, dogteeth, fangs, or (in the case of those of the upper jaw) eye teeth, are relatively long, pointed teeth.

...

In humans, the upper canine teeth (popularly called eye teeth, from their position under the eyes) are larger and longer than the lower, and usually present a distinct basal ridge.

The term eye teeth goes back to at least the 17th century. The earliest I found is in the fascinating 1657 Nature's Cabinet Unlock'd by Thomas Browne:

and four eye-teeth, in either jaw two.

And the 1660 Lexicon Tetraglotton, an English-French-Italian-Spanish Dictionary by James Howell shows the translations all include eye:

The upper tußes, or eye-teeth ; Demi occhiali; Dents oeillères; Los ojales.

Give [...] eye-teeth

The earliest "give/gave [...] eye-teeth" is illuminating. 1836's The Way-Mark: In Which Some of the Turns of the Broad Road are Pointed Out says:

His shipmates all have their happiness placed upon their grog. If it was to confer every possible blessing, it could not be lauded- more, nor" sought after more eagerly. Your real sea-dog will give his eye- teeth for a glass of grog; it is a fact, that many a tooth has been drawn in exchange for rum.

Rather have [...] eye-teeth drawn [out]

A variant rather have their eye-teeth drawn [out] was said by a Mr. Denny on Wednesday, 17th December 1834 in Congress and recorded in two sources. Once in Congressional Globe says:

The gentleman believed that the manufacturers would rather have their eye-teeth drawn, than submit to the loss of the profit on a four penny nail, there were perhaps others, who would rather see the Union dissolved, than submit to pay ...

And again in Register of Debates in Congress:

The gentleman had remarked, in reference to the friends of she protective system, that they would rather have their eye-teeth drawn out than to submit to the loss of their profit on a ten-penny nail.

And also:

would sooner part with its eye-teeth than its profits on a ten-penny nail;

As soon part with [...] eye-teeth

From The Town and Country Magazine, or Universal Repository of Knowledge, Instruction, and Entertainment of 1779:

that a publisher would as soon part with his eye- teeth as a guinea, till I had completely earned it, and returned the books he had lent for translations and quotations.

And 1784's The European Magazine:

... and would as soon part with her eye teeth as with a guinea.

We can see the phrase has changed slightly from preferring to give your eye teeth than give/lose money; to the modern giving your eye teeth for something you really want.

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