Counting Idioms Trivia Quiz

The term 'one-horse town' is used to describe a small and unimportant town. It originated as an agricultural phrase where it meant the place was so small that it could be worked on by a single horse. The exact origin of the term cannot be traced, however, Charles Dickens defined it in his magazine "All Year Round" published in 1871 as "'One horse' is an agricultural phrase, applied to anything small or insignificant, or to any inconsiderable or contemptible person: as a 'one-horse town,' a 'one- horse bank,' a 'one-horse hotel,' a 'one-horse lawyer', [etc.]".

The term 'two left feet' describes someone lacking grace or having awkward and clumsy movements. It is most often used in the context of dancing. The idiom is believed to have originated in the early 20th century. The earliest written record of the term is the short story, "The Man with Two Left Feet" by PG Wodehouse published in 1917.

In earlier times, the left side was considered inauspicious. This gave rise to other idioms like "getting up on the left side of the bed" to denote a bad mood and "left handed compliment" to describe what is now better known as a "back handed compliment" - something given as a seeming compliment but not one at all.

To plead the fifth or take the fifth means to avoid answering a question that could incriminate you. The phrase comes from the American legal system. The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States gives people the right to protect themselves from self-incrimination. The phrase has now entered regular conversation and can also be used in light-hearted banter.

To be six feet under means to be dead and buried. Some sources claim this phrase relates to the length of a coffin or the depth of a grave traditionally. Others claim this may have originated during the Bubonic Plague and the six feet alludes to the distance between graves maintained to avoid further spread of the disease.

Other similar idioms are pushing up the daisies and gone to meet one's maker.

To be 'on cloud nine' is to experience an extreme state of bliss. It is similar to the idiom "to be in seventh heaven". The origin of the term 'on cloud nine' is not entirely clear. Some sources state that it was derived from Buddhism where Cloud Nine was one of the stages to Enlightenment.

However, there are ten stages so there is no real reason to single out cloud nine for this explanation.

The term perfect ten has its origins in sport, most commonly associated with gymnastics. At one time, this score was considered unattainable, especially at the Olympic Games, requiring a level of perfection believed to be outside human grasp. So much so that when Romanian gymnast, Nadia Comaneci, did achieve a perfect ten at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, the scoreboards showed the score as a 1.00.

They were not equipped to display a perfect ten score! In more recent times, it has been used to describe an attractive woman.

The term at the eleventh hour refers to the absolute last minute that things can still be done. It is believed to have originated from a parable narrated by Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. According to the parable, workers hired at the eleventh hour were paid the same wages as those who had worked during the entire day.

Although this link is tenuous, over time the idiom has come to denote the last possible minute that a task can be completed.

Pop artist Andy Warhol is commonly quoted as having said, "In the future, everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes.". It refers to a short burst of popularity for an individual or thing. An earlier idiom which carried the same meaning was "a nine day wonder".

While this idiom is famous as a quote by Andy Warhol, there is no substantial evidence that he did in fact say it. It was used in the publicity material for his exhibition in Sweden in 1968. However, there are various other claimants to the quote, including European curator, Pontus Hulten, painter, Larry Rivers, and photographer, Nat Finkelstein. Finkelstein has gone on record to state that he was photographing Warhol for a book when the latter was surrounded by a crowd and remarked that 'everyone wants to be famous'. According to Finkelstein, he responded saying 'only for fifteen minutes'.

Forty winks refers to a short nap taken during the day time. The first written record of this phrase is from Dr. William Kitchiner's self help guide published in 1821, where he recommended a forty wink nap as a means of improving one's health and extending one's lifespan.

A century later, well known author F. Scott Fitzgerald used the term in a short story called "Gretchen's Forty Winks" that was published in 1924. Fitzgerald used the phrase in the same meaning as Dr. Kitchiner. In the story, the protagonist Roger Halsey tells his wife Gretchen to "take forty winks, and when you wake up everything would be fine.".

The term 'million dollar question' can mean both, a question that is very important, and a question that is very hard. The phrase is popular on both sides of the Atlantic. In the US, it grew in usage after the game show "Who Wants to be A Millionaire?". The final question, which if answered correctly, awarded the player a million dollars, was called the million dollar question.

The US game show was a remake of a British show with the same title - "Who Wants to be A Millionaire?". In the UK version, the game show host, Chris Tarrant used the catchphrase "million pound question" for the final question. This phrase didn't take off with the general public. Instead, after the popularity of the US version, "million dollar question" became more frequently used.