Animal Proverbs Trivia Quiz

Answer: You give away a secret.

It is thought that this phrase originated from the whip called the cat of nine tails. When this was taken out of it's bag it boded badly for someone. It has also been suggested that it relates to a fraud when a pig would be sold and the bag it was put in was switched with one containing only a worthless cat.

The earliest documented use of the phrase in the sense of "revealing a secret" comes from a book review in a 1760 issue of "The London Magazine". The reviewer states that "We could have wished that the author had not let the cat out of the bag".

Answer: He's crazy.

A belfry is a bell or clock tower. The person's head is represented as the belfry and the implication is that the head is so empty that bats are flying around inside it. In other words, he is a crazy person. The expression was first heard in America at the beginning of 20th century.

In October 1900 "The Daily Newark Advocate" newspaper said that "These purile and senseless attacks on Hon. John W. Cassingham are akin to the vaporings of the fellow with a large flock of bats in his belfry",and in July 1907 Ambrose Bierce wrote in "Cosmopolitan Magazine" describing it as a new curiosity and said that "he was especially charmed with the term bats in the belfry and would substitute it for Possessed of the Devil", which is the scriptural way of saying that someone is crazy.

Answer: You can give good advice and opportunities but they may not be taken.

Although it may be frustrating when you offer others advice or opportunities which may solve their problems, it is ultimately their choice whether to take this or not. It appears to be the oldest English proverb that is still in regular use today. It was recorded in "Old English Homilies" (1175), "Hwa is thet mei thet hors wettrien the him self nule drinken" (who can give water to the horse that will not drink of its own accord). John Heywood listed it in the influential glossary of the 12th century "A Dialogue Conteinyng the Nomber in Effect of all the Prouerbes in the Englishe Tongue".

In the play "Narcissus", which was published in 1602 from an unknown author, it says as follows: "Your parents have done what they coode, They can but bringe horse to the water brinke, But horse may choose whether that horse will drinke".

Answer: Appreciate what you have rather than risking it to get more.

This proverb came into the English language in the sixteenth century and was probably imported from other cultures. It may relate to falconry, where the bird in your hand was a valuable asset, far better than the wild birds, which are its prey. It is first seen published in English in Hugh Rhodes "Boke of Nurture or Schoole of Good Manners" in 1530.

However, a much older Near Eastern origin is suggested by a similar saying in the 6th century BCE "Proverbs of Ahiqar", also known as "The Words of Ahiqar", which say that "a sparrow in thy hand is better than a thousand sparrows flying".

Answer: It's not enough to wish. Action is needed to get what you want.

This is first found in "Remaines of a Greater Worke, Concerning Britaine", published by William Camden (1551-1623), but at that time it was "If wishes were thrushes beggars would eat". It also features as a nursery rhyme in James, Orchard Halliwell's collection of nursery rhymes "Nursery Rhymes of England: (1840), which goes as follows:-
"If wishes were horses
Beggars would ride:
If turnips were watches
I would wear one by my side.
And if if's and an's were pots and pans,
The tinker would never work!"

Answer: People of the same type and with similar interests spend time together.

This phrase was in use in 1545 as in William Turner's book "The Rescuing of Romish Fox", where it is expressed as "Byrdes of on kynde and color flok and flye allwayes together". The first known mention in print of the currently used English version, however, appeared in 1599, in "The Dictionarie in Spanish and English", which was compiled by the English lexicographer, John Minsheu.

This saying also gave its name to the popular British TV comedy show, first aired in 1989, "Birds of a Feather", in which two sisters whose husbands are in prison for armed robbery move in together to help each other

Answer: To sacrifice a small thing to gain something more valuable.

A sprat is a much smaller fish than a mackerel and the saying means that it is often best to risk a small thing or amount of money in order to get a chance of obtaining something much more valuable. It is the same idea as "You need to speculate to accumulate".

The saying has been around since the mid eighteenth century, and the originated with fishermen using cheap fish to obtain larger and more expensive ones.

Answer: Do not interfere in a situation which is causing no problem at present, but could do if it is stirred up again.

This means that when a situation is causing no problem at the moment it is better not to mention it. For instance, if there was an argument months ago avoid alluding to it because you may stir it up all over again. This is a very old saying based on the fact that dogs can be unpredictable when they are awakened.

Its origin is attributed to Geoffrey Chaucer who wrote in "Troilus and Criseyde" in 1330, "It is nought good a slepyng hound to wake".

Answer: Everyone has a time when they are lucky and successful.

It means that every person has a time when they are lucky and successful. The first recorded example of this idiom being used is in a letter from Queen Elizabeth I when she was still Princess Elizabeth. It was recorded by John Heywood in the 1562 edition of "Proverbs and Epigrams" that her brother had requested a picture of her and she replied, "Notwithstanding, as a dog hath a day, so may I perchance have time to declare it in deeds".

The phrase was also used by Shakespeare in "Hamlet" when the prince himself says "Let Hercules himself do what he may.

The cat will mew and dog will have his day".

Answer: Someone who is not functioning properly although they functioned well before.

This phrase is often used for politicians at the end of their term of office, when colleagues and voters are anticipating the next holder of the post, or similarly with officials companies of organisations who are close to retirement. In fact, the original meaning is to do with the stock market and was used to refer to members who were unable to pay their debts.

In 1771, David Garrick, in "Prologue to Foote's Maid of Bath" wrote "Change-alley bankrupts waddle out lame ducks". In 1772, in the "Edinburgh Advertiser" it was written, "Yesterday being the settling day for India stock, the bulls had a balance to pay to the bears to the amount of 23 per cent. Only one lame duck waddled out of the alley, and that for no greater a sum than 20,000."