Animal Sayings Trivia Quiz

Answer: A little bird told me

If you did not want to say who told you some information, you might say 'a little bird told me'. If you 'let the cat out of the bag' then you unintentionally reveal a secret. The eggs in the photo come from a bird, although crocodiles also lay eggs.

Answer: Canary

In the past, coal miners used to take canaries into mines as a way of testing for poisonous gases. The birds are more sensitive than people to these gases, giving the miners a chance to escape. The phrase 'a canary in a coal mine' comes from this.

The photo shows a canary which is a type of finch.

Answer: Leopard

This is another way of saying that people can't change they way they are. The picture shows an Amur leopard which is native to south-east Russia and north-west China. In 2007 only around 20 Amur tigers were known to exist in the wild.

Answer: Worms

The phrase means that by doing some action, you cause more problems than were there in the first place. One story about how the phrase comes about is that fishermen in the US used to literally buy worms in a can to bait their hooks. When the can was opened, the worms would start escaping and so cause the fisherman some extra problems.

Answer: Would not harm a fly

Flies are known for carrying diseases and are not normally welcome in houses. Someone who wouldn't hurt or harm a fly is therefore someone who is particularly gentle or kind.

Answer: Mule

The expression is 'stubborn as a mule'. Stubborn can mean refusing to comply, difficult to handle and persistent. These, it seems, are characteristics shared by mules.

Answer: Hare

'Mad as a March hare' is the full expression. During their breeding season in the UK, male hares can display strange behaviour such as boxing other hares or suddenly leaping into the air for no apparent reason. The expression is used for people (or animals) who are excitable and behave unpredictably. The photo shows a hare.

Answer: Oyster

'The world is your oyster' means all opportunities are open to you or, if you want to achieve something, you need to grab the opportunity. The phrase is attributed to William Shakespeare and can be found in the play "The Merry Wives of Windsor", written around the year 1600.

The photo shows a picture of some pearls. Although pearls can be found in other shellfish such as mussels, the most valuable pearls normally come from oysters.

Answer: Grasshopper

An American expression, it dates from around 1850. An earlier version, involving a toad, dates to 1814. There are also versions using a frog, a bumblebee, a spit, a splinter, a mosquito, a duck and a jackrabbit.

Answer: In the doghouse

Some people suggest that the expression was created by Scottish author J M Barrie in his 1911 book "Peter Pan". He however used the word "kennel" in the book, being the typical word used in the UK for doghouse. Doghouse is the American term. The phrase (with the meaning 'in disgrace') first appeared in print in 1926 in a glossary of criminal terms but is probably older than that.