Some More Wordwise 2 Trivia Quiz

Answer: A bunch of fives

"A bunch of fives" is most definitely not related to a friendly or happy time. Put simply, somebody is either threatening to punch another person, or has already carried out that unfortunate action. Good luck with what follows next. This is seldom resolved with a good-natured handshake.

This saying, which is relating to boxing, arose some time prior to 1820 and first appeared in print in the 1821 boxing reference work "Boxiana" by Pierce Egan.

Answer: A load of cobblers

This Cockney slang is actually referring to cobblers' awls, the small hand held tools used to pierce holes in leather. Its origins are rather vulgar in nature, but because it has evolved into "A load of cobblers" today, it is described as an "an accepted vulgarism". It means that some person has told you a pile of rubbish, a cock and bull story or a pile of stuff and nonsense. Oddly enough, although it sounds rather ancient, the expression first appeared in print in Phillip Allingham's 1934 work "Cheapjack", a story set in the English markets and street stalls.

Answer: A plague on both your houses

This expression can be found in Shakespeare's 1525 play, "Romeo and Juliet" in which the injured Mercutio cries "I am hurt. A plague o' both your houses! I am sped. Is he gone, and hath nothing?" It expresses a cry of anger and frustration on the two sides involved in a long term family feud that has dragged others into it, resulting in their harm and death.

It could be applied today to any ongoing fight between two parties in which a third party or parties have been harmed when trying to intervene.

Answer: A sea change

"A sea change" is a radical transformation of lifestyle, location, belief, faith etc, and means that someone, or some group has completely upended life in some way and ended up in the exact opposite state. People usually use this term today to mean a complete transformation of lifestyle and location, as, for example, retiring from a life in the semi-desert areas of Australia a thousand miles away from the sea, to living the life of relaxed angling in a little seaside cottage somewhere.

It basically really means some drastic and astonishing change in life to the one previously held for a lifetime.

Answer: Any port in a storm

"Any port in a storm" means that when one is desperate and needs assistance urgently, that person will take whatever is offered, whether liking it or not. This nautical term has no other explanation offered than this, but one presumes that it dates back to the days of wind-powered sail.

Answer: Accidentally on purpose

It something is done accidentally on purpose there's nothing accidental about it at all. It has been done deliberately. An example of this could be "accidentally" breaking a hideous vase somebody has given you for a gift.

Answer: About face

This is a military command from the British army, one that is still used in most armies with an English speaking background today. It means to change direction to face back from the way the army has just come. This order dates back at least to 1711 where it is found written in Major William Young's work "Manoeuvres, or Practical Observations on the Art of War". To describe war as a form of art is ludicrous in the extreme, in my opinion.

Answer: All agog

To be all agog is to be in a state of high excitement over some forthcoming event - Christmas for children, for example, or the Easter Bunny. This term is though to originate in France from the expression "en gogues" there. This translates to "in mirth". The first time it is recorded in England was in 1542 in Nicolas Udall's work "Apophthegmes, that is to saie, prompte saiynges".

Answer: Alter ego

The phrase "alter ego" derives from the Latin language where it translates to "Other I". This is a term used in the field of psychology and psychiatry, where it means two personalities residing in the one individual. On a more light-hearted side, it refers to another identity of a super hero or super villain. Superman, for example, whose alter ego is mild-mannered reporter, Clark Kent.

Answer: An arm and a leg

If you have paid an arm and a leg to obtain something, you have paid a great deal of money - or something of equal value, whether it be monetary or personal. There have been several theories put forward as to the origin of this expression, but these are incorrect. One such was that painters charged more for larger painting, so it was cheaper just to get a head and shoulders painting done.

The actual origin is that of a phrase that sprang into being after World War II. Possibly based on the high cost of amputations of injured limbs to an individual as a result of war injuries, its earliest recorded use appeared in a column in "The Long Beach Independent" in Christmas 1949, where it states the following: "Food Editor Beulah Karney has more than 10 ideas for the homemaker who wants to say "Merry Christmas" and not have it cost her an arm and a leg".