Wordwise Puzzler 12 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ace in the hole

An "ace in the hole" means that you have a hidden advantage of some kind that you're holding back until the moment is just right to produce it - and then wham, you've come out on top. Basically it means the same as an ace up your sleeve. The expression finds its origins in the game of stud poker where all the cards dealt out to player are placed face down on the table - they're known as the hole cards - but only each individual in the game knows what his or her cards are. So the craftiness of play begins, and poker faces are assumed.

Answer: All thumbs

If anyone is described as being "all thumbs", they're usually very clumsy indeed. This saying appears to have first appeared in John Heywood's 1546 collection of various proverbs known at the time. For some people, the cause of their innate clumsiness is the fact that they're quite nervous about making a mistake of some kind - such as dropping a lovely vase - and that nervousness makes them feel so insecure, that they drop the vase anyhow.

Answer: Back to the grindstone

"Back to the grindstone" refers to anyone who has had a brief reprieve from a hard task of some kind, but is now having to return and get stuck into it once again. "Nose to the grindstone" is the actual task that was being carried out, before the brief reprieve took place.

A grindstone itself is a large round stone, usually sandstone, which is spun round and round rapidly by either manual or powered means, on which the blades of metal tools are held to hone or sharpen. Manual or water-powered grindstones have been used by man for thousands of years for the purpose of manufacturing or sharpening tools, or, sorrowfully so, weapons.

Answer: Elephant in the room

"Elephant in the room" is an expression that describes any very important, controversial, or alarming event or topic that everybody knows about, but that nobody is prepared to discuss because it either makes them uncomfortable, or that it could set off massive repercussions perhaps. Some consider such avoidance a form of diplomacy, others could perhaps describe it as cowardice.

The saying originated in a fable called "The Inquisitive Man" by Russian writer, Ivan Krylov. This tells the story of a man who visits a museum and is completely fascinated by all the tiny things on display he sees - but fails to notice there is actually a huge elephant in the room as well.

Answer: Fly on the wall

If anybody expresses a wish that he or she had been, or wanted to be, a "fly on the wall" at some happening or event, this means that this person wishes he or she could have been present in the room, but unnoticed by all present - much like a fly on the wall would have been. Except, one imagines, if it had been at a conference of pest exterminators.

This saying is believed to have originated in the United States some time during the early 1900s. It first appeared in an article in February, 1921, in the paper, the "Oakland Tribune" in which somebody has stated "I'd just love to be a fly on the wall when the right man comes along." Unfortunately, apart from its Peeping Tom's overtones, no more details are provided as to the context from which this was taken.

Answer: Eyes bigger than your stomach

If anyone is described as having "eyes bigger than your stomach", that person has basically been called a greedy pig. In its most literal meaning, he or she has taken, ordered, or grabbed more food that can possibly be eaten. It could, of course, be applied to other levels of life as well, on a more metaphorical level - such as perhaps demanding a bigger role in a play or movie, without having the level of skills to deliver the performance. That type of thing.

This saying has been around since at least 1651, when it appeared in print in George Herbert's "Jacula Prudentum", in which he states "The eye is bigger than the belly".

Answer: Head over heels

To be "head over heels" about anything means that you have gone totally, completely and thoroughly into some venture, or been taken over completely by some emotion you have no control over. We know the expression today as being head over heels in love, but the term first appeared way back in the 1300s as "heels over head" (how undignified) and, at the time, meant being upside down or the wrong way up.

By the 1700s it had evolved into "head over heels" and, one century later in the 1800s - the romantic era in literature in fact - it had become associated with the heady experience of being in love. That, too, is an unsettling feeling as well. Very nice of course, moonlight and roses and all that, but emotionally, a very tumultuous time.

Answer: Ships that pass in the night

"Ships that pass in the night" is an expression taken from a 1874 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), known as "Tales of a Wayside Inn." It describes the bittersweet sadness of any two people who have met and known each other for a very brief moment in time - before moving on, never to see one another again, and with only a lingering memory left of the passion and magic that had taken place (starting to feel maudlin here). The extract we all know appears below:

"Ships that pass in the night,
And speak each other in passing,
Only a signal shown,
And a distant voice in the darkness
So on the ocean of life,
We pass and speak one another,
Only a look and a voice,
Then darkness again - and a silence" (Sniff)

Answer: Once in a blue moon

"Once in a blue moon" refers to a very unusual happening of some kind, so rare that it is likened to a blue moon. A blue moon, in turn, refers to an additional moon which occurs during a normal calendar division of any year, and has nothing to do with the colour of the moon at all.

The origin of the term dates back to England during the 16th century, when the term "a blue moon" was the absurd possibility of any suggested event taking place - because to the people of the time, the idea of the moon turning blue was so ridiculous it was considered impossible.

Answer: Cat among the pigeons

A "cat among the pigeons" describes some undesirable person who has been placed, or pushed him or herself, into a group with which there is no common ground to be met. That person usually causes a lot of bother in some way. Perhaps an example could be, say, putting a fervent unionist onto a committee of equally fervent capitalists.

One truly obnoxious origin of this expression can be seen in an article by Dipti Jain, which was printed in "The Times of India" on 12 March, 2006, in which it was put forth that this term originated from a popular pastime in India during the period of British colonisation whereby a wild cat was let loose in a cage full of pigeons - with bets being placed on how many pigeons the cat could bring down with one swipe of its paw. If true, then how absolutely despicable.