Fire in the Hole! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ferret

"Ferret out" comes from the old hunting practice of using ferrets to drive rabbits, rats, etc. from their hiding places or holes. In this sense, it meant to drive out from a place of hiding. Over time it came to mean to bring to light information, or basically drive it from its hiding place.

Major Burns earned the nickname because the others thought his face looked like a ferret and it became a running gag on the show.

This question was created by Phoenix Rising member tazman6619.

Answer: Rat

The saying is used to describe someone who is drenched to the bone or soaking wet. For example, "He was caught in the storm and came inside looking like a drowned rat". Dictionary.com advises that the saying first appeared in Latin nearly two thousand years ago.

There are many varieties of rats and, as a result, they are likely to inhabit a wide range of habitats. Rat species, however, are either terrestrial or arboreal in nature. It is not uncommon to find them living in burrows.

This question was prepared by Phoenix Rising member pollucci19.

Answer: Bug

'Snug' was originally a nautical term which meant 'neat; trim; well prepared', as in this line from "The Voyage of Robert Dudley" (1595): "A verie fine snugg long ship". The first known reference defining 'snug' as more along the lines of comfortable or cozy was John Lane's 1630 work, "The Continuation of Chaucer's Squire's Tale", wherein he penned the line, "Snugginge they in cabins lay each one".

The origin of the word 'bug' is less clear, but the Coverdale Bible of 1535 used the word to speak of ghosts or ghouls in Psalms 91:5. It was in use with the present meaning by 1642, as evidenced in "Naaman the Syrian" by Daniel Rogers: "Gods rare workmanship in the Ant, the poorest bugge that creeps".

Meanwhile, in Tudor England, 'rug' initially referred to a piece of thick cloth used as a coverlet or blanket. Rugs weren't relegated to the floor until the early 19th century.

"If she has the mopius's, I'll have her, as snug as a bug in a rug". That line from a 1769 pamphlet titled "Garrick's Vagary" by David Garrick is the first known use of the idiom.

This question was created by Phoenix Rising member 1nn1.

Answer: Rabbit

Magicians in days gone past were renowned for pulling a cute white rabbit from a top hat after showing that the hat was empty. It is now used to signify obtaining magical results.

It must be said, however, that rabbits should never be picked up by their ears as is often shown in the magic tricks.

This question was created by Phoenix Rising member smpdit.

Answer: Beaver

The two species of beaver, North American and Eurasian, both keep "busy" building dams and lodges. The lodge, or den, is entered through underwater tunnels. The North American beaver is a symbol of Canada, related to the fur trade in beaver pelts that was an important industry for European colonists. The genus name Castor is also the French word for the animal, and lends its name to castoreum, a substance harvested from the beaver's scent glands for use in perfumes and medicinals.

This question was written by Phoenix Rising member pusdoc.

Answer: Possum

To play possum is to pretend to be dead. This is because the opossum, or possum as it is often called, pretends to be dead when it is in danger. This confuses predators and allows the opossum a chance to escape. The opossum is the only marsupial in North America and makes its home in burrows or holes left behind by other creatures.

This question was written by Phoenix Rising member purelyqing.

Answer: Fox

Male foxes are known as dogs, tods, or reynards. The fox in Walt Disney's "The Fox and the Hound" was, for this reason, aptly named Todd. The anthropomorphic Reynard is also a fairly well-known figure in European folklore. He featured in Dutch, German, French, and English allegorical tales as an accomplished trickster. Female foxes are called vixens.

This question was crafted by Phoenix Rising member JCSon.

Answer: Skunk

The term comes from Al Capp's comic strip "Li'l Abner", where Skonk Works was a dilapidated factory on the outskirts of town. It came to be applied to a section of Lockheed Martin's research and development during WWII that was responsible for some of the most innovative airplanes of the war. It changed from Skonk Works to Skunk Works and now the term skunkworks is applied to any such section of an organization where results and streamlined effort is paramount over bureaucratic rules.

The question was created by Phoenix Rising member tazman6619.

Answer: Bear

This one is aimed at all the Captain Grumps out there. In other words, if someone is like a bear with a sore head, they're generally in a foul mood and quite irritable. Best stay out of their way until they've had their first cup of coffee.

Bears are semi-den creatures. They will retire to a den to hibernate.

This question was prepared by Phoenix Rising member pollucci19.

Answer: Clam

While clams give the appearance of smiling due to their bi-valve appearance, the phrase is incomplete. The original phrase was "happy as a clam at high water". This is because at high tide, clams will be under water and therefore free from predators. Some species can escape predation by burrowing into the sediment; others lie exposed on the seabed waiting to be covered by higher water rendering them safe. The full phrase can be traced back to 1841 in north-eastern USA, where clams are plentiful. It was known well enough in these parts to be included in John Russell Bartlett's "Dictionary Of Americanisms - A Glossary of Words And Phrases Usually Regarded As Peculiar To The United States" in 1848.

This question was created by Phoenix Rising member 1nn1.