Easy as Pie Cliches Trivia Quiz

Answer: The early bird

The person who gets up, arrives, or starts an action first has a better chance than others of achieving an objective or of taking an advantage of an opportunity. The expression "the early bird catches the worm" appears at least as early as 1636 in William Camden's "Remaines of a Greater Worke Concerning Britaine".

Answer: crow

Obviously crow would not be a popular dish; in fact, eating crow has often been considered forbidden and illegal at different times, dating all the way back to at least the composition of the book of Leviticus, Chapter 11. Thus, if someone was going to do something that would symbolically represent his or her willingnesss to abase him or herself or take the blame for some mistake or blunder, "eating crow" would certainly show one's humility.

The expression may come from a couple of stories published in America around 1850, one in the "Knickerbocker" and the other in the "Saturday Evening Post". According to the stories, an old farmer is boarding a few travelers who complain about the food.

The farmer boldly states, "I kin eat anything," at which the boarders respond, "How about crow?" The farmer replies, "I kin eat crow!" The boarders challenge him to eat one and prepare the crow themselves while stuffing it full of tobacco.

The farmer eats the crow but then replies, "I kin eat crow, but I be darned if I hanker after it." However, the Atlanta "Constitution" relates the following event that occurred during the War of 1812. An American soldier bagged a crow while hunting.

A British officer who witnessed the deed approached the American and complimented him on his shot. He then asked to see the American's gun. Upon receiving it, the officer pointed it at the American, upbraided him for trespassing and firing a weapon during a ceasefire, and then made him eat a bite of the crow. After all of this, the British officer foolishly returned the gun to the American, who then humiliated the officer by forcing him to eat the remainder of the crow at gunpoint.

Answer: medieval jousting tournaments

"Enter the lists" means to enter a contest or even a battle. The saying comes from medieval times when "lists" was used as a term to refer to a fencelike structure that enclosed the area set aside for tournaments that involved tilting or jousting.

Answer: Easy as pie

Something that is "easy as pie" is a pleasantly uncomplicated task. Many are often puzzled by the expression because, as any cook will tell you, making a pie is not all that easy a task. However, the expression has nothing to do with baking a pie; instead, it's all about eating it. Most people have no problem whatsoever eating a piece of pie that's offered to them, just as if they are offered a "piece of cake," which is another expression meaning the same as "easy as pie." During the 1800's in the United States, the word "pie" already had the meaning of an "easy match" or "a prize obtained without much effort." An 1895 article in the recreational magazine "Outing" used "pie" in the following manner: "Green dogs are pie for him [a raccoon]." ("Green" refers to the lack of hunting experience the dogs possessed.)

Answer: Proverbs

According to the English Standard Version, Leviticus 24:19-20 says, "If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done, it shall be done to him, fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him." Deuteronomy 19:21 says, "Your eye shall not pity.

It shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot." Matthew 5:38-39 says, "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I [Jesus] say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil.

But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." Typically, "eye for an eye" refers to the philosophy that one is justified in returning an insult or injury for one given to him or her.

However, while many believe this expression grants them the right to retaliation, many scholars argue that the Old Testament use of this phrase was never meant to require retaliation but rather to regulate it. In other words, no one is ever required to seek vengeance, but if one does, he or she should go about it fairly and not exact more than would be fair.

For example, if someone blinded you in one eye, you could blind that person in the same eye, but not in both, or you could blind that person but not kill that person. Of course, Jesus seems to say we shouldn't concern ourselves with vengeance in the first place, but rather with compassion and forgiveness.

Answer: the edible viscera of a deer

The word "humble" in the expression "eat humble pie" is a corruption of the word "umble" or "umbles," which is an antiquated word for the edible viscera of a deer, such as the liver, the kidneys, the heart, and the entrails. While the name "umble pie" has existed at least since the 1500's and the actual umble pie itself long before that, the expression "eat humble pie" and its contemporary idiomatic meaning did not come about until sometime in the 1800's. Robert Forby wrote in his 1825 "Vocabulary of East Anglia" that "to make one eat humble pie" was "to make him lower his tone, and be submissive." Some have argued that the evolution of "umble" to "humble" occurred because eating "umbles" was an act of humility or a practice necesitated by one's poverty or lowliness; however, this is not an accurate assumption to make.

Many delicacies eaten by the aristocracy consisted of umbles as well as venison. More than likely, the change from "umble" to "humble" occurred because of the confusion created by the fact that "humble" has often been pronounced without the initial "h" sound. People heard "umble," but spelled "humble." Then, as people began to see the word "humble" instead of "umble," they began to think more and more of humility instead of the entrails of an animal. Today, most people have no idea what "umbles" are, but they could definitely explain what is meant by the idiomatic expression "eat humble pie."

Answer: Egg in your beer

Basically, "egg in your beer" refers to the finer things of life or something more than what you have. Usually, someone uses the expression as part of a question: "What do you want--egg in your beer?" Thus, someone is asking, "Why are you complaining? Aren't you satisfied with what you've got?" The exact origin of the expression is not known, but some have speculated that a beer with egg in it was considered an aphrodisiac and thus a special treat. Anyone not satisfied with what he or she had must obviously be wanting something special or wanting to be treated as someone special.

In 1947, an article in "American Speech" explained that the phrase had a sexual connotation: "According to the superstition prevailing in certain social strata, the eating of eggs lends one sexual power.

The idea is strikingly demonstrated by the bartender's lingo for an order of beer with an egg in it: 'One sexy!'" Others argue that the expression arose during a time when eggs and beer were both rare, perhaps during an economic depression or war time.

Answer: Eating out of my hand

"Eating out of my hand" refers to the control one seems to have over another when that person is easily manipulated or is quite submissive. Some animals, particularly those that are domesticated, can often be convinced to take food directly from a person's hand.

While the person feeding the animal may have nothing but innocent motives, often the person is attempting to trick, trap, or even kill the animal trusting enough to get so close for a bite of food. The use of this expression to refer to a submissive person appears to be rather recent as far as expressions go. One of the earliest recordings of it goes back only to the 1920's when Hugh Walpole expressed in "Young Enchanted", "I won a glorious victory and Victoria has eaten out of my hand ever since."

Answer: Matthew 20:1-16 The Laborers in the Vineyard

The expression "Eleventh Hour" means "late or the last moment before an anticipated event." Matthew's Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard has the men hired at the eleventh hour of the job being paid as much as those hired at the beginning of the job, even though the eleventh-hour people worked for only an hour. From this sense of being barely in time to receive some benefit comes the concept of time running out.

The expression "Evil Eye" refers to a look of ill will or a glance thought capable of working harm or issuing a curse.

At the end of the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard, the laborers who have worked all day come to express their anger to the owner of the vineyard for his decision to pay the workers hired at the eleventh hour the same pay they were receiving.

The owner replies, "Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?"

Answer: Eat his hat

When an individual declares he or she will "eat his or her hat," that individual is claiming that he or she is extremely confident about his or her position or prediction. In other words, the speaker is willing to risk eating something as indigestible as a hat because he or she believes the likelihood of really having to eat the hat is remote.

The same kind of confidence is expressed by a child when he or she says someone may "stick a needle in my eye" if that child is indeed lying instead of telling the truth about something.

The expression seems to be a derivative of the older "bet a hat," which can be seen in Shakespeare's "Love's Labor's Lost": the character Biron says, "My hat to a halfpenny, Pompey proves the bet worthy." However, by the 1800's, we can encounter the expression as something closer to what we know in Dickens' "Pickwick Papers": Mr. Pickwick himself says, "Well, if I knew as little of life as that, I'd eat my hat and swallow the buckle."