If someone says that you eat like a horse, it mean you are eating, or have eaten, a lot of food. In some instances this is a compliment while in others it’s an insult. It all depends on the situation and the people involved. Interestingly enough, in French the expression is “manger comme un ogre” (translation: eat like an ogre) or “manger comme quatre” (translation: eat as if one was four).
One of the funniest play on words was in Neel Chowdhury’s article in Time Magazine published on May 29, 2008. The title of the article was “Eat Like A Horse Rider.”
The Baltimore Sun ran an article on December 28, 1952 entitled, “Add One Elephant To The Holiday Toll.” The newspaper extended its sympathies to the children of Rome whose favorite elephant, Remo, had died on Christmas Eve. And yet despite the fact that this was a terribly sad occasion, the editors saw that a lesson could be drawn from the unexpected death at the Rome zoo. And with that, the article spoke to the heart of holiday feasts, stating this in part:
For those of us who have survived the first rounds of holiday feasting, with the New Year’s banquets still to go, there is a moral in Remo’s gourmandian orgy. A person may be as hungry as a bear and may eat like a horse but there are definite limits beyond that.
Thee Pittsburgh Press ran an advertisement espousing the benefits of The Reese Formula R-11 in its August 9, 1920 edition. It stated that a Mr. B.L. Allen, assistant foreman of the N&W Railway at Portsmouth, Ohio, claiming to previously suffering from “nervous indigestion and rheumatism” had this to say about the product’s efficacy:
I saw the medicine in the window at Fischer & Streich Drug Store and I decided to get a bottle and try it as I have always tried everything I saw. I am glad to say after taking two-thirds of the bottle I can eat like a horse, sleep like a country boy and feel like a 16-year old boy. If you wish to sue my name you are at liberty to do so. I will always recommend The Reese Formula R-11 to my friends.
These sorts of health claims haven’t changed over the years, the only difference being the illnesses that certain products supposedly address or cure. Over in Sydney, Australia, the Sydney Mail newspaper ran an advertisement in their March 15, 1902 edition that made eerily similar health claims as the advertisement run in Pittsburgh in 1920. This time it was about Dr. Morse’s Indian Root Pills. In this instance, it was a Mr. John Cook of Dunolly, Victoria, Australia who gave testimony:
About the middle of February last I was seized with a severe attack of Indigestion, and also pains across the chest, which caused me much agony, and upon making my case known I was advised to give your pills a trial. I did so, bought one bottle from Mr. Kendall, the local chemist, and commenced their use, and before using on bottle I found they had made a great improvement so I continued their use, and had not finished the second bottle when I was sure they had cured me. Another thing, before taking these pills I had no appetite, but now, as the saying is, I can eat like a horse. I will recommend the pills wherever I go, as I am sure they will do to others as they have done to me.
Back on July 12, 1882 the St. Joseph Daily Gazette in St. Joseph, Missouri published an article on Tug Wilson, the English pugilist. The upcoming match between Tug Wilson and John L. Sullivan that was set to take place at Madison Square Garden in New York the following week had sports enthusiasts buzzing with excitement. It was reported that Sullivan had agreed to forfeit $1,000 — a princely sum at the time — he didn’t knock Tug out in four rounds and Tug stood to earn half the gate money if he succeeded in dodging the “sledgehammer blows of his redoubtable adversary beyond the prescribed time.” Among other things, the newspaper article dealt with the boxer’s training regime.
He does not trouble his stomach with many soft vegetables but does in for beef, bread, mutton and eggs. Dinner over, he rests until 2 o’clock, smokes a cigar, and then starts out and walks until 5 o’clock. He has another trot around after supper. His appearance has undergone a great change since he commenced training. There is nothing “fluffy” about him now. He has hardened his muscles and reduced his weight most remarkably. He can now skip about like a squirrel, eat like a horse, and move about like a champion pugilist. His weight last Sunday was 174 pounds, and yesterday it was 157 pounds. The fact of itself sufficiently indicates the severity of his training.
Idiomation was unable to find an earlier published version of this expression however there appears to be a jump between the expression “work like a horse” and “eat like a horse.” The former expression dates back to at least 1520 when horses replaced oxen and began to pull carts, wagons, carriages, chariots and sleighs.
As a side note, special yokes had to be designed for horses as the typical ox yoke applied so much pressure to the windpipe of a horse that it effectively cut off the horse’s supply of oxygen. And surely if one was said to be working like a horse, it made sense that one would also be eating like a horse afterwards.
Historically Speaking 