Language: en
Meaning: (idiomatic)In a past tense: criticizing the person to whom the phrase is directed forinappropriately, and usuallyneglectingly, leaving an exterior door or window open, consideredill-mannered.2006October 20, Heather Murphy, “The More the Merrier?”, inWashington Post, retrieved15 September 2008:Neither bothered to lock or shut the house's front or back doors. "It was like they had beenborn in a barn," she says.; (idiomatic)In a past tense: criticizing the person to whom the phrase is directed aslackinga sense ofetiquetteor beingill-mannered.1971,Joyce Carol Oates,Wonderland: A Novel, Vanguard Press, page76:His aunt said angrily: "Fritz, were youborn in a barn? Don't you have any manners?"2002June 19, Ruth Ann Baker, “Even wolves behave in the pack”, inPittsburgh Post-Gazette, retrieved15 September 2008, page N4:Phone at a symphony concert? I'd ask if these people wereborn in a barn, but that would disrespect the animals.
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