Dull as Dishwater Cliches Trivia Quiz

Answer: The die is cast.

The expression "the die is cast" means that one has made a decision and acted upon it so that one cannot change one's mind or direction. Of course, the "die" referred to in the cliche is one of a pair of dice, and once a die or a pair of dice have been thrown in a game, a player is required to abide by the result. Obviously, in life we also make choices and take actions that require us to abide by the consequences, whatever those consequences may be.

This saying has existed at least since before Julius Caesar's time.

As Caesar was about to cross the Rubicon (the source of another cliche!) to face Pompey, he spoke, "Iacta alea est" or "the die is cast". Apparently, Caesar was quoting a mistranslation by Suetonius of Meander's Greek expression for "let the die be cast".

Answer: a fable by Aesop

Concisely speaking, Aesop's fable goes something like this: "A dog was lying in a manger full of hay. An ox, being hungry, came near and was going to eat the hay. The dog, getting up and snarling at the ox, would not let the ox eat the hay. The ox replies, 'Surly creature, you cannot eat the hay yourself, yet you will let no one else have any'".

As with many of Aesop's Fables, this particular fable may have existed as a story among the Greeks long before Aesop himself (whose existence many scholars debate).

The expression "dog in a manger" was so popular by the time of Jesus that even he, according to the Gospel of Thomas, said, "Woe to the Pharisees, for they are like a dog sleeping in the manger of oxen, for neither does he eat nor does he let the oxen eat". Apparently, dogs are known for such behavior, for not only have I heard similar stories concerning others' dogs, but I've also witnessed my own lie down nearby a bowl of food or a toy or whatever that he or she was uninterested in, yet bite the head off of any other animal that came near it.

Answer: telling an exaggerated story

To "draw the long bow" means to "exaggerate, stretch a point, or tell a tall tale". It means the same thing as a couple of other cliches, such as "pull one's leg" or "tell a fish story" (you know, like "I caught one THIS big"). The longbow was the principle weapon of British soldiers during the Medieval Period and, of course, the weapon of choice for Robin Hood. Tall tales concerning a person's skill in archery were often circulated during this time.

The expression arose because of these exaggerated stories of amazing feats accomplished with the bow and arrow.

Answer: Deep six

"Deep six" means "to discard or dismiss someone or something into oblivion". One might say, "Deep six that guy" or "Give him the deep six". The expression is most likely a macabre allusion to burying someone six fathoms deep at sea. Marks on a boat's sounding line used for measuring the depth of water were usually 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 13, 15, 17, and 20 fathoms.

The measurer or leadsman would call out "mark" for any of the numbers listed on the line: for example, "mark two" (or "twain" as Samuel Clemens notes).

However, if the number wasn't listed, then the leadsmen would call out "deep", as in "deep six".

Answer: dropped the pilot

"Drop the pilot" means "to dismiss a competent and tested guide or leader, usually misguidedly". The expression caught on in the 1890's after a couple of events. Kaiser Wilhelm II dismissed Otto von Bismarck as German Chancellor, despite his having been a key figure in the Prussian and German governments for many years and his primarily having been responsible for the unification of Germany.

A British journal titled "Punch" then published a political cartoon portraying Kaiser Wilhelm as a captain of a ship dismissing Bismarck, who was wearing the uniform of a ship's pilot.

Answer: A ruthless competitiveness exists among his colleagues at work.

"Dog eat dog" refers to a ruthless competition, particularly one in which each person is concerned only with his or her own benefit. Some are fond of saying we all live in a dog-eat-dog world because to them all of life is a competition in which the reward is survival that must be won at any price, including the relinquishing of one's ethics.

The expression or cliche comes, actually, from a much older saying. At least as far back as the sixteenth century, some were fond of saying "a dog does not eat a dog", meaning that the most dirty, selfish, or vicious of creatures at least maintain a level of respect for one another or for their own kind.

It's very similar to such sayings as "honor among thieves" or "even Hell's angels fly in ranks". Everyone lives by some sort of code within the group to which he or she belongs.

However, if a dog would turn on its own kind, then that dog must be vicious indeed and completely without any ethics. Thus, people began to use the expression "dog eat dog" to express how truly bad a situation was or had become.

Answer: dressed to the nines

"Dressed to the nines" means "to make a glamorous appearance" or "to be dressed perfectly" or "to be dressed up in clothing and apparel that are of prime quality and fashion". Besides the theory presented in the question, there are other proposed explanations for the origin of this expression.

Some argue that nine is the last digit before numerals are recycled, thus making nine the highest number, so to speak. Another theory is that nine seems to be the number of other groups held in high regard, such as the nine muses or the Nine Worthies. Nine seems to be a number of greatness, like in the expression "cloud nine".

By the way, "to the nines" can be used without being preceded by the word "dressed". In such instances, one would be suggesting that something is exquisite or of the highest degree.

For example, one might say, "You have painted those mountains to the nines" or "They decorated their home to the nines for Christmas".

Answer: Down in the dumps

"Down in the dumps" means "to be quite dispirited or depressed". This term has nothing to do with the "refuse heap" meaning most associate with the word "dump" nowadays. Many scholars believe that the term "dumps" used in the expression "down in the dumps" is an obsolete term whose meaning we will never definitively know.

The earliest recording of the use of this term seems to be Sir Thomas More's "A Dialoge of Comforte Against Tribulation" published in 1529. More writes, "What heapes of heauy-nesse, hath of late fallen among vs already, with which some of our poore familye bee fallen into suche dumpes".

However, according to a John Gay's own note accompanying his eighteenth-century poem "Wednesday; or the Dumps", the term "dumps" used in the expression "comes from the word Dumplin, the heaviest kind of pudding that is eaten in this country, much used in Norfolk, and other counties of England".

Answer: I will be ready at the drop of a hat.

"At the drop of a hat" means to be ready "immediately, instantly, or at the slightest signal or urging". In the nineteenth century, it was customary in the United States to signal the start of a race or a competition or a fight by dropping a hat or by sweeping a hat downward while holding it in the hand.

The quick response to this signal found its way into the language for any action that begins quickly without much need for prompting.

Answer: Dutch treat

The British and the Dutch were empire-building rivals in the seventeenth century, and as a result, English has a number of unflattering expressions referring to the Dutch. "Dutch treat", however, is purely an American construction that originated during the nineteenth century, probably from the thrifty habits of German and Dutch immigrants.

A variation of this expression can be observed when two people go out on a date and agree to "go Dutch".