born in a barn adjective2 •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 •In a past tense: criticizing the person to whom the phrase is directed as lacking a sense of etiquette or being ill-mannered.His aunt said angrily: "Fritz, were you born in a barn? Don't you have any manners?" — 1971
