Idiomatically, The End Trivia Quiz

Answer: Bored

To be at a loose end means one has nothing to do. The idiom, nautical in origin, which can be traced back to the British in the 1700s. When soldiers were idle, the captain would give these men the task of checking the ends of rigging ropes to ensure none had come loose.

A further idiomatic derivation is to "tie up loose ends", which means to address minor consequences associated with a previous action.

Answer: Future events

This phrase means one lacks foresight - one can only see the immediate events, issue or problems. The origin of this idiom is French but it was known in English from approximately 1700. Alexander Pope coined a similar expression in his "Essay on Man" (1734), "Onward still he goes, Yet ne'er looks forward further than his nose."

Now go back to the photo clue and see if it gives you an "insight" if previously it did not portend "foursight".

Answer: You are at the end of your tether

Tether is another word for rope. A grazing animal who is tethered can only find food from as long a distance as the rope itself. When at the end of its tether, it can see food but not reach it - frustration! American usage is more likely to use "rope" rather tether. Compare "end of my tether" with "at my wit's end", the latter of which means that you are confused or puzzled, causing you to have no idea what to do.

The word wit, in this context, means "mental ability or sharpness." It first appeared in 1377 in "Pliers Ploughman" by William Langland: "Immediately I awoke, almost at my wits' end. And when I set out on my way, it was like a man under a sentence of death."

Answer: False

Stickiness is associated with blood. If you have been unfortunate to spill some of your own, you will know it is sticky. The explanation is that "sticky" has many meanings: Having a property of adherence, covered with viscid material, requiring carefulness or diplomacy, and, informally, it has come to mean unpleasant or unfortunate.

It is in this context that "sticky end" is used. One has had an unfortunate end - and died.

Answer: Very

"Bitter end" means the last extremity, ruin, even death. The origin is grounded in nautical terms around the mid-1800s. A bitter was a turn of a cable around posts, or bitts, on a ship's deck. The bitter end meant "the part of the cable that stays inboard." Therefore, when a rope is paid out to the bitter end, there is no more remaining.

Answer: False

This is an interesting turn of phrase literally. According to Rabbinical law the world would end in 6000 years. There were five reasons for this, most of which were found in the Bible. The end of the world, therefore, was going to be a calamitous event. By putting "not" in front of the phrase "end of the world", it did not mean the opposite but means the situation described is a minor issue, e.g my son came home today from school complaining I had given him a cheese sandwich instead of his favorite ham sandwich.

He was quite upset, but I told him it was not the end of the world.

Answer: William Shakespeare

"The be all and end all" was attributed to William Shakespeare in "Macbeth" (1605). He wrote the following lines for Macbeth who was considering murdering Scotland's King Duncan to gain the throne for himself:

"If it were done, when 'tis done, then 'twere well
It were done quickly. If th' assassination
Could trammel up the consequence, and catch
With his surcease, success: that but this blow
Might be the be-all and the end-all"

Things do not go as planned for Macbeth, however, the meaning of the phrase has endured. The photo shows the interior of the Globe Theatre.

Answer: To live life at a hectic pace

This phrase has come to mean living unsustainably at a hectic pace, either working or playing late into the night followed by a early rise to start the day all over again. The derivation, however, does not refer to both ends of the day, but was literally a reference to the two ends of the candle. These were expensive and valuable; the largest British households had a dedicated person to making candles - a chandler. Lighting the candle at both ends indicated a reckless waste. Also by burning the candle at both ends means the candle would be horizontal, which in turn causes them to burn out quickly.

In 1730 Nathan Bailey defined this phrase in "Dictionarium Britannicum". In this definition "both ends" were husband and wife. The phrase describes the situation when both people in the pair become spendthrifts.

Answer: True

In the mid-1500s in Great Britain, the phrase "odd ends" was used, meaning "short leftovers of some material", typically timber or cloth. Some scholars believe it has an older meaning and that its roots are in in Anglo-Saxon "Folk-etymology" (i.e. unwritten). In this context it is a corruption of "ord" and "ende", meaning points (beginnings) and ends.

Answer: To manipulate two opposing sides for one's own benefit

There is skill in playing both sides of an issue for the benefit of oneself. The term has a likely origin in cheating at cards, specifically when playing Faro. Slivers were cut off certain cards in a concave or convex fashion so when they were cut, the "dealer" could tell where they were in the deck.

This was called "Both ends against a middle". The figurative term is recent, dating back to the late 19th century.