Animal Etymology Trivia Quiz

Answer: 16th century

They may be pampered now, but it wasn't always the case. In the 16th century, animals like horses were put to work, and dogs were no different. If you had a dog, it was a hunter, not a pet. 'A dog's life' was difficult and miserable. The phrase was first recorded in a 16th century manuscript and soon became a popular idiom.

Now, people love dogs and care for them as though they were human. In some cases, the phrase 'a dog's life' is used to mean a life of laid-back pleasure.

Answer: A cat burglar

A cat burglar can sneak around without anyone noticing. Like a pet cat, they use stealth to their advantage. The phrase dates back to 1907 when it was used to refer to a specific person. Arthur Edward Young had stolen items from numerous homes in London, often by climbing through upper-floor windows.

The local media named him 'the cat burglar' and when he was eventually caught in April 1907, he possessed £677-worth of stolen goods and jewellery.

Answer: Bee

During the 1920s, phrases using animal body parts to mean 'very good' became popular. Some of the expressions survived into the 21st century, such as 'the cat's pajamas' and the 'cat's meow'. 'Bee's knees' dates from around this time, too. Before the 20th century, 'bee's knee' was used to refer to something small or insignificant from around 1797.

Do bee's legs even have knees? Kind of. Each leg is divided into six segments and they do have parts that bend.

Answer: Monkey wrench

A monkey wrench is a type of adjustable spanner used to tighten nuts and bolts. A myth started in the 19th century that Charles Moncky had invented the tool, but no one with that name existed in the time or place it was claimed he lived. The kind of adjustable wrench that we know today was probably invented by Loring Coes around 1840.

The term 'monkey wrench' was already in use before Coes' patent was submitted. In the early 19th century, 'monkey' was used by sailors as a modifier for tools made for specific tasks.

Answer: King James Bible

The phrase is often attributed to Ecclesiastes 10:1: 'Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.' It refers to a drawback or something that spoils a potentially good situation.

Flies feature in a range of idioms, such as 'fly on the wall' and 'on the fly'.

Answer: Lion's share

The Online Etymological Dictionary gives 1701 as the first recorded use of the phrase 'lion's share'. It is often associated with one of 'Aesop's Fables', sometimes titled 'The Lion's Share'. In the story, the lion and a group of other animals hunt together. Once their prey is dead, the lion demands that it is cut into quarters.

He then claims one quarter because he is king of animals, another quarter because he is the strongest, and a third quarter for his share in the hunt. The lion threatened the other animals by daring them to take the final quarter.

Answer: Birds Eye

The phrase 'fish fingers' was probably in use before Birds Eye used it to name their product, but the company made it famous. Fish fingers (sometimes known as 'fish sticks', particularly in America) are rectangular strips of fish coated in breadcrumbs. Bird's Eye conducted a customer survey before settling on a name for their product. Fish fingers are now considered to be quintessentially British food.

Answer: A knife with a copper blade

In golf, an 'eagle' is a score of two under par and probably came after the use of 'birdie' to mean one stroke under par. An 'eagle' was also a gold coin worth $10 that was in circulation from 1792 to 1933. The oldest of the three terms is 'eagle-eyed', meaning sharp-sighted. It dates from around the turn of the 17th century.

Answer: 1965

A mouse is a device used to control the cursor on a computer screen. Bill English was the first to record the word and its usage in 1965 in 'Computer-Aided Display Control'. At the time, a computer mouse would have been connected to the computer with a wire, resembling the rodent it was named after. Now, however, many mice are wireless.

Answer: Claw

'Bear claw' was used for a type of pastry from the early 20th century, most commonly used on the west coast of America. In 1948, a patent described a bear claw as folded dough with filling inside. Small incisions are made in the dough, then it is separated out to look like a claw.