Wordwise III 13 Trivia Quiz

Answer: fly on the wall

The idea of "fly on the wall" is you are so unobtrusive you are seeing what is happening as if you weren't even there. There is the implication that what you are seeing is more truthful since no one is making something up but instead presenting the information naturally. Reality television programs want the viewer to feel this way though that doesn't always match what is actually occuring.

Answer: lost in the shuffle

Someone who is lost in the shuffle may be overlooked or not noticed. In some ways "lost in the shuffle" and "fly on the wall" both refer to not standing out. Shuffling a deck of cards can be an effective way of mixing a particular card back into the deck. Any card game where you knew which cards each player had before they were played would be far less interesting than if the cards were unknown.

Answer: history repeats itself

The idea of history repeating (or repeats) itself is a common premise. Historians often look for patterns in historical events. George Santayana is even thought to have said something like "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." This pessimism would not apply to all events, but certainly the negative ones.

Answer: move up

With this one you can see the word move written in a way that each letter has the next letter above it. It can have several meanings including moving up in an organization or moving from a lower to a higher physical location. More than one song has the title "Move Up" or something very similar.

Answer: third wheel

Third wheel is a concept that refers to something unnecessary or extraneous. The idea of a fifth wheel is similar. I have always thought that third wheel was an interesting term since a vehicle with three wheels would actually be more stable than a vehicle with two wheels.

Answer: needle in a haystack

A needle in a haystack represents something that is difficult if not impossible to find. A haystack would be rather large--probably much larger than you. The needle would be very small--smaller than you pinky finger.

Answer: to go too far

This one is "to go too far" which is somewhat similar to the idea of pressing your luck. In either case is the idea that you would have been successful if you had stopped earlier, but you just had to get a bit too much. This wordwise works since the word two (indicated by the number symbol) is pronounced the same as to or too.

Answer: the long and the short of it

The long and the short of it can sometimes be used with a story where the brief version is given but the long version would present basically the same truth. The long and the short of it is a commonly used expression.

Answer: trip over your tongue

You might "trip over your tongue" implies that you are having difficulty saying something. The phrase might cause you stutter or stammer or you might simply be trying to say it too quickly. In sayings, the tongue seems to have many connections with speech, which makes sense since our tongue plays quite a role in us speaking.

Answer: the worm has turned

The worm turns (and its variants) refer to a situation that has rapidly changed. It could include a person who has previously accepted a bad situation or treatment suddenly resisting it. Uses of the phrase date back to the sixteenth century.