Break Even Trivia Quiz

Answer: Down

If your car won't start, you've probably suffered a breakdown. The word can also apply to health conditions, particularly mental ones, with 'nervous breakdown' being used to describe a range of mental health issues. Another usage is to describe the analysis of something into smaller parts - a complicated book could be broken down into smaller, more easily understood, sections.

Answer: A leg

Actors are a superstitious lot and saying 'good luck', which most of us would accept as encouragement, is believed in theatrical circles to mean the opposite. So you offer good luck to your acting friends by saying 'break a leg' instead. There are various explanations about its origin with the most plausible being a version of a Hebrew expression 'hatzlakha u-brakha', meaning 'success and blessing'.

Answer: Neck

The word 'breakneck' has a literal meaning - travelling at high speeds or undertaking any hazardous task is likely to lead to death, caused by a broken neck. The word has been around longer than you might think, with the first recorded use dating from the 1550s. It seems our ancestors were equally reckless on horseback as today's 'boy racers'.

Answer: Fast

A fast refers to a period of going without food, and breaking it means having something to eat. For many of us, that means the first meal of the day, after a night's sleep, so breakfast is the first meal. The use of this name in English dates from the fifteenth century. Before then, morgenmete, meaning morning meal, or undernmete were used. Undern is now obsolete, but meant morning in Old English.

Answer: Camp

To break camp literally means to take down tents used for temporary accommodation before moving elsewhere, usually by military personnel. The expression is now used figuratively to mean moving on from any temporary premises.

Answer: Rank

This is another expression which originated in the military, referring to a soldier who fell out of step in a drill. By extension, it was also used to refer to a failure to keep in line during an attack. By the mid 1800s, it began being used about anyone who failed to conform to what was expected and is often used of politicians who break ranks by refusing to stick to the official party line.

Answer: The ice

We all know that awkward feeling when you don't know the people you're with and aren't sure what to say next. What's needed is someone to break the ice by making a joke to put everyone at ease. The saying dates back a long way, with a poem by Samuel Butler being the first written record. The poem was published in 1678 and is called 'Hudibras'.

Answer: Through

In a military sense, breakthrough means to advance through enemy lines - literally breaking resistance. Figuratively, it is used to describe an important leap forward, perhaps in medical terms (the discovery of penicillin) or in technology - the internet was an important breakthrough in how we communicate with each other.

Answer: Up

Neil Sedaka sang 'Breaking Up is Hard to Do' back in 1960, and a breakup can refer to the end of a romantic relationship or a friendship. You can also breakup with laughter, if you find something exceptionally funny. Breakup can also refer to the disintegration of any solid, such as the ice which blocks waterways in winter.

Answer: Bread

To break bread has its origins in the Bible, when Jesus is said to have broken bread to share with his disciples. From this, the expression has come to be used for the sharing of any meal with other people. In some circumstances, it can be used to describe any act of sharing, such as money or drink, but the meaning of sharing food is more recognisable to most people.