More Fun from Minch to You Trivia Quiz

Answer: you

The letters of the word ITS (or, to fit the phrase by adding punctuation, IT'S) are written so they have to be read upwards, bottom to top. As you read up, the next letter is U, which sounds like YOU when read aloud. This gives the phrase IT'S UP TO YOU, which indicates that the speaker is prepared to let the person they are addressing make some decision on their own.

Answer: backbend

The letters of the word BEND have been written so that you need to read them from right to left, or backwards. This makes then a BACKBEND, which is a gymnastics maneuver that involves bending the spine backwards, and landing on one's hands. It can also just involve grabbing the backs of one's knees or ankles to stabilise the body as the head is lowered to be level with them. Some yoga positions, such as Kapotasana (Pigeon Pose) involve backbends.

The anglers in the crowd may have identified the BENDBACK, a kind of fly used in areas where there are a lot of obstacles on which the fly may snag when cast.

Answer: ups and downs

The word UP is written multiple times, leading to the plural form UPS; similarly there are four DOWNS in the diagram. Combining them, we see UPS AND DOWNS. This phrase refers to a situation where things are better (in some way) at some times that at others. The vicissitudes in one's personal fortunes are often called the ups and downs of life.

Answer: to be in a jam

The number 2 sounds like TO when read aloud, and the letter B sounds like the word BE. The surrounding letters, AJAM, can be broken up into A and JAM. The upshot is the phrase TO BE IN A JAM. This describes a position of some difficulty, from which it looks as if there could be unpleasant consequences. To be jammed is literally to be wedged tightly in place and unable to move.

Answer: go on foot

The word GO is written on top of the word FOOT, leading to GO ON FOOT. To go on foot is to walk, rather than use some conveyance when travelling between two locations.

Answer: long in the tooth

The word LONG is written between the words THE and TOOTH, so what we see is LONG IN THE TOOTH. This way of describing someone or something that is very old started as a reference to the age of a horse. Horse teeth not only appear in stages, they also keep growing longer (which is why the horse dentist needs to make regular visits to file them back, if necessary).

These two facts mean that one can make a very good guess as to the age of a horse by looking at its teeth. (And that is why it is rude to look a gift horse in the mouth, as it suggests that you think it might be older than stated.) The first record of the phrase being applied to people dates from 1841.

Answer: fish out of water

H2O is the chemical formula for water. The WATER is found inside the letters of the word FISH, but water in a fish isn't a familiar saying. If we think of the letters of fish as being outside of the water, then we have a FISH OUT OF WATER. A fish out of water has trouble breathing and moving, and will not be in a good place.

The idiomatic fish out of water is a person who is in a socially uncomfortable situation, because their background and experience have not made them familiar with the acceptable forms of behavior.

Answer: long ice

Since long ice is not a common idiom, it makes the least sense. The other three, all referring to the way the letters have been separated (broken or stretched out) would make sense. To break the ice means to start a conversation and get past an awkward moment, usually one of introduction when neither party has much reason to know what to say to the other. Broken ice appears on the surface of a partially frozen body of water, when there are ice patches separated by areas of open water. If there is a length of road which is covered in ice after a storm, one might say that there is a stretch of ice on the road.

Answer: three sheets to the wind

The word SHEET has been written three times, followed by the run-together words THE WIND. While the preposition to connect them is not immediately obvious (before doesn't make much sense), it is necessary to recall the idiom THREE SHEETS TO THE WIND, used to describe someone who is intoxicated (but not as drunk as someone who is four sheets to the wind). The phrase originated in sailing. The ropes used to adjust the position of the sails are called sheets, and a sail that has been positioned to backfill (collect wind in the opposite direction from usual) is said to be sheeted to the wind. This is sometimes done during a storm, to keep the ship in a stable position sideways to the wind. However, the process also makes the boat rock dramatically from side to side. The stronger the wind, the more sails need to be sheeted to the wind; three sheets to the wind describes a very strong storm indeed, with the boat in serious danger of capsizing.

The phrase three sheets in the wind has a different technical meaning in sailing, but has been similarly used to describe an inebriated person. The transfer of the phrases to describe someone who is very drunk, and in danger of falling down as they walk, was probably made by and about sailors. It is noted in the Oxford English Dictionary in 1821, and was used by Charles Dickens in his 1848 novel 'Dombey and Son'.

Answer: bent on destruction

The word BENT is written over, or ON top of, the word DESTRUCTION, so the image shows BENT ON DESTRUCTION. The phrase bent on was first used in 1761 to mean determined to perform something. Someone who is bent on destruction is determined to wreak havoc, either literally or figuratively.

It is also the title of a book by Rick Gualtieri, the third book in the urban fantasy series 'Hybrid of High Moon'.