Wordwise No 10 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Throw

To "throw in the towel" means to give up and cede defeat. This saying derives from the sport of boxing when, during any bout, one boxer's corner decides their boxer is being defeated and doesn't have a chance of winning. To symbolise that, his towel is thrown into the ring. The match is then declared over, with the victory given to his opponent.

Answer: Third time lucky

"Third time lucky" is a superstitious belief that if something fails the first two times, it will probably succeed on the third attempt. Nobody really knows the time period from which this saying sprang, but one possible erroneous reason for its association is the belief that if a convicted criminal, under English law, was sentenced to death by hanging, but if three attempts at that failed (that's some inefficient executioner), then he was given a reprieve. Thankful, but probably with a much longer neck.

Answer: To think outside the box

To "think outside the box" is to take a step back from the normal ways of doing a task - which may prove fruitless - and attack that task from a different angle. This saying originated in the United States some time during the 1960s, and ever since then, various people have claimed authorship of it, none with any particular degree of success.

Answer: The year dot

"The year dot" when applied to the length of time associated with anything means that it's been around for so long that nobody can remember when it really began. This saying originated in England some time during the latter part of the 19th century.

Answer: In

The saying "A method in his madness" can be dated back as far as Shakespeare's time, where a form of it is found in his 1602 play "Hamlet". Lord Polonius exclaim's of Hamlet's seemingly crazy actions that, "Though this be madness, yet there is method in 't...". Today, the overall meaning of the saying still stands where anyone's seemingly insane behaviour, once analysed, really has a sound and very basic common sense reason behind it.

Answer: On

"The writing is on the wall" means that a long dreaded event is now upon one. An example of this could be global warning. Long warned about, with not much done by world governments to solve the forthcoming problem at all, our globe is now starting to grow warmer. Drastic consequences such as glacial melting, rising sea levels, and dying reefs are now happening right before their incredibly foolish eyes.

This saying dates right back to the Bible in Daniel 5, where one Belshazzar was having a right old drinking session - using sacred temple containers as drinking glasses. Suddenly words of warning appeared on the wall before him, and once Daniel interpreted them, Belshazzar realised he had been judged, found wanting, and that he was about to suffer the consequences.

Answer: The upper hand

There are various explanations put forth for the origin of this saying. One has it originating in American playgrounds, when two captains of a playing team were selecting members to play on their side. Taking hold of a bat and by respectively putting hand over hand until the top was reached, the captain with "the upper hand" had the first call of team members. Basically today, however, the saying means to have some sort of competitive advantage in any situation over all others.

Answer: The third degree

If you've been given "The third degree" then you've been grilled unmercifully as to you whereabouts or what you have been doing and so on. This saying can be dated back to the Middle Ages when it was then common to classify various categories into levels of degree regarding the qualities they possessed. An example of this today could perhaps be normal milk, low fat milk, and no fat milk - three degrees of milk. Over time, however, the saying evolved to be associated with interrogation.

Answer: Up

"The game is up" means that you have been discovered in some usually nefarious activity and there isn't much use in trying to fight it. This saying dates back to Shakespeare's 1611 "Cymbeline" in which Belarius states "Euriphile, Thou wast their nurse; they took thee for their mother, And every day do honour to her grave: Myself, Belarius, that am Morgan call'd, They take for natural father.

The game is up". The ruse has been revealed, in other words.

Answer: Ends

"The ends of the earth" is usually used today when exaggerating some concept or another and means as far as it is possible to go. An example could be a woeful melodramatic statement such as "I will search for you, my darling, to the ends of the earth until I find you". Dear me.

This expression, as many of our expressions do, dates back to the Bible. Found in Zechariah 9:10, it states "And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth".