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Idiomatic Language Trivia Quiz

When people express themselves in idiomatic language,they use 'traditional phrasings' that have a fixed form and a meaning that goes beyond the strict literal sense of the words. See which "standing expressions" suit the contexts given below.

A multiple-choice quiz by flem-ish. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
flem-ish

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
148,771

Updated
Oct 14 22

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
8 / 10

Plays
8004

Last 3 plays: Guest 90 (10/10), woodychandler (8/10), TrishDenis (9/10).

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. What may "the game" not be worth? Hint

the stake

the candle

the pack of cards

the price of the drinks

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Question 2 of 10

2. Which of these sayings might best describe somebody who is without a (prospective) partner and therefore able to freely choose one? Hint

a free catch

a wallflower

a lame duck

footloose and fancy free

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Question 3 of 10

3. Which of these meanings could "going places" normally NOT have? Hint

to sleep around

to travel abroad

to go sightseeing

to be on the way to success

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Question 4 of 10

4. What must you keep from your door if you don't want to starve? Hint

the vultures

the hyena

the wolf

the stray cat

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Question 5 of 10

5. What must, at least according to a standing expression, people do first, before they can start cooking their hare? Hint

marinade it

catch it

hang it

chop it into sizeable pieces

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Question 6 of 10

6. "Dying with your boots on" can be understood in more than one way. Which of these must be excluded however? Hint

To die suddenly.

To die on the way to hospital.

To be killed in a gunfight.

To be hanged.

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Question 7 of 10

7. What do - according to an English idiom - things cost when they are excessively expensive? Hint

an arm and a leg

a sack of gold

the price of an airplane

a bag of diamonds

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Question 8 of 10

8. What might be a suitable traditional saying to describe a valuable innovation? Hint

the best brew since Budweiser

the best invention since hot punch

the best stuff since Big Mac

the best thing since sliced bread

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Question 9 of 10

9. What do people jump on, when they try to join in with what is popular and fashionable? Hint

a dark horse

the bandwagon

the bus

the fast train

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Question 10 of 10

10. What must you do if you have to go through and endure a painful situation for some time? Hint

chew on a handkerchief

eat a bit of what you fancy

bite the bullet

bite your upper lip

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Most Recent Scores

Dec 01 2024 : Guest 90: 10/10
Nov 19 2024 : woodychandler: 8/10
Nov 07 2024 : TrishDenis: 9/10
Nov 06 2024 : Guest 94: 9/10
Oct 28 2024 : elisabeth1: 6/10

Score Distribution

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. What may "the game" not be worth?

Answer: the candle

Must date back to the times that gambling was done "with candlelight".
As candles were relatively expensive, a gambler might have expressed his disappointment with his poor gains with the remark: the game was not worth the candle.

2. Which of these sayings might best describe somebody who is without a (prospective) partner and therefore able to freely choose one?

Answer: footloose and fancy free

Wallflowers may be without partners but they apparently have not any options either.

The idea of a free catch does not exactly express freedom to choose. If anything, it suggests availability to be robbed of one's freedom.

And lame ducks don't fly.

3. Which of these meanings could "going places" normally NOT have?

Answer: to sleep around

Sleeping around and going places can go perfectly together but are not identical.
Of course the saying "Your place or mine" might one day cause the expression to develop new meanings.

4. What must you keep from your door if you don't want to starve?

Answer: the wolf

Another version : to bar the wolf from your door.
Possibly inspired by a line from John Webster's "The White Devil" V,iv, : "But keep the wolf far hence, that's foe to men", though Webster's wolf is not a metaphor for poverty. Webster refers to the possibility that wild animals might dig up corpses. "For with his nails he'll dig them up again".

5. What must, at least according to a standing expression, people do first, before they can start cooking their hare?

Answer: catch it

Also: Don't count your chickens before they are hatched.
The other phrasings are to be taken in a literal sense, and are not 'idioms' with a figurative meaning.

6. "Dying with your boots on" can be understood in more than one way. Which of these must be excluded however?

Answer: To die on the way to hospital.

Far West origins! Another meaning of "dying with your boots on" was to be hanged. And there is still a third: to die suddenly and unexpectedly.
To die in harness has a different meaning: to die when still in employment, referring to jobs you have held long.

7. What do - according to an English idiom - things cost when they are excessively expensive?

Answer: an arm and a leg

Portrait painters are said to have pushed their profits by suggesting to their customers (and subjects) they should have arms and/or legs included in the portraits they had ordered. Which meant there was more paint to be used, more work to be done, and more money to be gained - for the painter!

8. What might be a suitable traditional saying to describe a valuable innovation?

Answer: the best thing since sliced bread

In the U.S.A. also: the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Sliced bread was developed in the 1920s, and this phrase has been in use since at least the 1950s.
Of course you can be as hot as punch...but that is a different matter.

9. What do people jump on, when they try to join in with what is popular and fashionable?

Answer: the bandwagon

Bandwagon: wagon carrying a band during a parade. Of course everybody wants to join the fun!
A dark horse: someone with hidden qualities. Originally: a racing-horse about which little is known.

10. What must you do if you have to go through and endure a painful situation for some time?

Answer: bite the bullet

Eating a bit of what you fancy, may be a good idea when threatened by spring fatigue.
Keeping a stiff upperlip is said to be one of the national characteristics of the British, though some say it is emotionally unhealthy. You of course can bite your fingernails, when in a stressing situation.
Biting the bullet stems from olden times when soldiers were given a bullet to bite during surgery. As there were no anaesthetics of any real quality yet, soldiers simply had to endure the pain and try to forget about it by using little tricks. Chewing or biting bedpillows might have helped too, but little such stuff was available.

Source: Author flem-ish

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