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No one knows for sure, but it probably emerged in Brazil when the horse was still the most common means of transport. For some, the origin would be in the custom of tying the mount in front of the houses. When a visitor’s animal was trapped under the porch or other protected place, it was a sign that he intended to delay the visit, which was considered an indiscretion. “Sometimes, however, the owner of the house took a liking to prose. In this case, when the visit was about to leave, he warned: ‘You can take the horse out of the rain’”, says philologist José Pereira da Silva, from the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ). It would be the same as saying: «Tie up your animal in a protected place so that our conversation can continue calmly».
But how did that original meaning end up changing to “give up on something” or “lose hope”? The etymologist Deonísio da Silva, from the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), believes that the expression was born in the south of the country, with the gaucho habit of collecting the horse in the shed, if there was a sign of prolonged rain, when it arrived at a warehouse to shopping. “This explains the current meaning of the expression, which indicates that the solution to a problem will take time”, says Deonísio.