Food and Drink in Idiom Trivia

1. Which classical empire's government used bread and circuses to placate its populace?

From Quiz Baking Bread

Answer: Roman

The "bread" part of bread and circuses consisted of food handouts to the needy. While the term "circenses" used by Juvenal has been translated literally as "circuses," which refers primarily to chariot races in the Circus Maximus, many other sources translate it to include other forms of entertainment, such as gladiatorial games in the Colosseum, as well as entertainment in religious festivals called "ludi." Encyclopedia Britannica states, "the 'circuses' were public games and other mass spectacles." The "American Heritage Dictionary" also uses the term "public games" in reference to Juvenal's quote.

From Quiz Who Ate all the Pies?

Answer: One is humiliated for making an error.

The idiom, eat humble pie, indicates that one is to face humiliation for a serious error. Humble pies or umbel pies are of pre-19th century England. These are meat pies that were often made of deer meat. The definition of the phrase refers to behaving humbly or to be humiliated.

From Quiz Speak Your Fruits and Vegetables

Answer: Pod

On the plant, peas grow in pods, long envelopes that contain half a dozen or more peas in a row. Peas next to each other in the pod do look alike, though if you ask me, they're also pretty difficult to tell apart in pans, spoons, or sauces.

From Quiz Slinging Hash at the Diner

Answer: butter

Of course if you were asking for the butter to be on toast instead of plain bread, the waitress might have ordered 'well-done dough with covering cow', or 'cow to cover' instead.

From Quiz Food and Drink in Idioms

Answer: cauliflower

From Quiz Baking Bread

Answer: The 1930s

Life in the USA in the Thirties was dominated by the Great Depression, during which unemployment rates in many areas of the country were as high as 30 to 50 percent of non-farm workers. The dispensing of food via breadlines was common in many large cities and was often carried out by both private and government entities.

From Quiz Who Ate all the Pies?

Answer: A person has a role in something.

She needs to have a finger in the pie. This is an example of someone who would need a role in an activity. To have involvement in something is what this idiomatic saying implies. The similar phrase, to have a finger in too many pies, suggests that one is involved in too many things or that one is too busy to do the task right.

From Quiz Speak Your Fruits and Vegetables

Answer: Cherry

This phrasing comes from the practice of topping an ice-cream sundae with a bright red, maraschino cherry. With such a delectable treat at the top, the dessert is as perfect as it can possibly be -- so the cherry is the finishing touch on both the treat and the request. Children asking a big favor may up the ante anyway; I've heard "sprinkles" (or jimmies or hundreds and thousands) added atop the cherry, as well as the nonsensical-on-ice-cream "powdered sugar".

From Quiz Eat Your Words

Answer: Bananas

The phrase 'go bananas' is more of a slang expression than an idiom, and hence is used mostly in informal contexts. Basically, to go bananas means to be overwhelmed by nervousness or wild excitement.

From Quiz Food and Drink in Idioms

Answer: the beans

From Quiz Who Ate all the Pies?

Answer: Something good is unlikely to happen.

This idiomatic saying is defined as meaning that what is hoped for is not likely to happen. This is an American idiom that was first used in a song by Joe Hill in the year 1911. An example is to refer to a planned meeting, that just does not seem possible, as pie in the sky.

From Quiz Speak Your Meat

Answer: The substance of your complaint against John

If you have a beef with a person (or a business or other organization), you have a real problem with them. It isn't a simple surface matter of dislike; a beef is deeper and more serious. Robin Hood, for example, had a beef with the sheriff of Nottingham, and the Untouchables had a beef with Al Capone. The related expression "Where's the beef?" asks what's really at the heart of an issue.

From Quiz Eat Your Words

Answer: Having a chat

'Chew the fat' is predominantly a British phrase, while 'chew the rag' is more commonly used in America. There is some debate of the definitive origin of this phrase. Some sources claim that it comes from a time when sailors would chew on fat while working or resting. Others hold that it originates from centuries ago, when pork was considered a luxury. When guests were over, the host would bring out bacon (a sign of wealth), and cut off pieces to share, so they could all 'chew the fat'. Either way, it means to engage in small talk with someone.

From Quiz Slinging Hash at the Diner

Answer: a cup of coffee and bowl of cereal

Of course you might have preferred to have your bird seed with 'boiled leaves', in which case you'd be drinking tea instead of coffee.

From Quiz Food and Drink in Idioms

Answer: peanuts

From Quiz Baking Bread

Answer: Dead

According to "The Urban Dictionary," the usage could occur as a threat, for example: "You're brown bread, sunshine," meaning "I'm going to kill you." Or it could also mean just plumb wore out, as in, "I'm brown bread after all that hassle." The same reference is made in internet slang sites and idiom sites such as "The Free Dictionary" online. Cockney rhyming slang originated in the early 1800s in London's East End. However, rhyming slang is not limited to England's capital, but is also prevalent in the rest of the United Kingdom, as well as Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.

From Quiz Who Ate all the Pies?

Answer: Things are in a neat and tidy order.

This particular idiomatic saying means that things are in perfect order. The phrase was used in the year, 1902, by Joseph Conrad in his work 'Heart of Darkness'. The quote is: "He was devoted to his books which were in apple pie order." Apparently, apple pies are of perfect order. This concept was also used in a work by Admiral Sir Thomas Pasley called, "Private Sea Journals" which are for the years 1778-1782.

From Quiz Slinging Hash at the Diner

Answer: rare

You might have followed up your steak with a dessert of 'fish eyes', or tapioca pudding.

From Quiz Food and Drink in Idioms

Answer: as a fruitcake

From Quiz Who Ate all the Pies?

Answer: You have a share in something.

This shows that a pie is the whole of an item. When one acquires a piece of the pie, a part or share is gained. An example is that with a highly profitable company, everyone wants a piece of the pie. This relates to the fact that a piece of the pie is considered their fair share of the company.

From Quiz Speak Your Fruits and Vegetables

Answer: Beet

When someone prone to blushing is embarrassed, blood rushes to their cheeks and reddens their skin tone. Beets have become the benchmark for the resulting redness, although what these fine root vegetables have to be embarrassed about is anyone's guess.

From Quiz Eat Your Words

Answer: Salt

If someone says something that think might not be true or a bit exaggerated, you may accept what they say but have some reservations about its validity. You would be taking what they say with a grain (or a pinch) of salt. The Ancient Roman observer Pliny the Elder came up with an antidote for a poison, which was to be taken along with a grain of salt. Therefore, anything related to the poison was to be taken with a grain of salt, and as a result, was not trusted on its own.

From Quiz Slinging Hash at the Diner

Answer: a western omelette

An order of spareribs might have been referred to as a 'first lady', liver and onions might have been 'put the lights out and cry', and a grilled cheese sandwich with American cheese would have been a 'GAC'.

From Quiz Food and Drink in Idioms

Answer: a couch potato

From Quiz Who Ate all the Pies?

Answer: An easy quiz

The similar sayings, as easy as 1,2,3, may have led to this pie saying, as easy as pie. The colloquial idiom indicates that something is both pleasurable and simple, such as pie. The phrase has been interchanged with the saying, piece of cake, which has a similar connotation. In the year 1910, Zane Grey used the idiom in a book called 'The Young Forester'. Also, a similar saying, like eating pie, was used in the publication 'Sporting Life' in the year 1886.

From Quiz Speak Your Fruits and Vegetables

Answer: It's defective.

A lemon is a major purchase that appeared to work properly when sold, but soon proved to be defective. Maybe the refrigerator burnt itself out; maybe the car engine started knocking two blocks from the lot. "Lemon laws" provide consumers with some recourse if they've purchased a lemon, but it's never a fun experience.

From Quiz Eat Your Words

Answer: Really fast

According to Robert Hendrickson's "Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins", this particular phrase comes from the time when pancakes were first made and served hot at gatherings or fairs. They became so popular that the phrase 'selling like hotcakes' was used to refer to anything selling quickly and in large quantities.

From Quiz Slinging Hash at the Diner

Answer: lettuce

If she yelled 'all the way' your burger would have come with everything, and 'high and dry' meant that it would have come plain.

From Quiz Food and Drink in Idioms

Answer: the pudding

From Quiz Baking Bread

Answer: As a thank-you note to follow up on a visit

A bread-and-butter letter is a courtesy extended to friends or relatives after a stay or visit. Although the term is believed to have originated in North America, its use has extended to the UK, as well. The usage reflects the concept that bread and butter refers to how one earns his keep, and that that hospitality was also extended to the visitor, who then shows appreciation for the same.

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