In The Odyssey, when someone is taken aback by something purportedly foolish mouthed by someone else, the following objection is often heard: “what is this you have let slip the guard of your teeth?” If my recollection is not failing me, this expression appears five or six times throughout the narrative. And I relished it each and every time I came across it. It must be of quite some vintage, too. Comparing teeth with crenellated battlements and vice versa must be as old as fortified settlements themselves, which go back some five and maybe even six millennia. From now on, I will be mindful of what I let slip the guard of my teeth much more than ever before. The felicitous expression will always remain by my side, forever on the ready, like a vigilant sentinel lurking behind a mighty battlement. I dare to hope that no foolishness will slip the guard ever again.