born in a barn en · ADJ
Meanings
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(idiomatic, not-comparable) In a past tense: criticizing the person to whom the phrase is directed for inappropriately, and usually neglectingly, leaving an exterior door or window open, considered ill-mannered.
Neither bothered to lock or shut the house's front or back doors. "It was like they had been born in a barn," she says.
2006 October 20, Heather Murphy, “The More the Merrier?”, in Washington Post, retrieved 15 Sep 2008:
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(idiomatic, not-comparable) In a past tense: criticizing the person to whom the phrase is directed as lacking a sense of etiquette or being ill-mannered.
Phone at a symphony concert? I'd ask if these people were born in a barn, but that would disrespect the animals.
2002 June 19, Ruth Ann Baker, “Even wolves behave in the pack”, in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, retrieved 15 Sep 2008, page N4:His aunt said angrily: "Fritz, were you born in a barn? Don't you have any manners?"
1971, Joyce Carol Oates, Wonderland: A Novel, Vanguard Press, page 76:
Synonyms
raised in a barn (lacking etiquette) · raised by wolves (lacking etiquette)