Old Saws and Cliches Trivia Quiz

Answer: the ropes of a boxing ring

The ropes in "on the ropes" refer to those surrounding a boxing ring. A fighter who is literally on them is usually in trouble and not performing very well in the fight--at least at that moment. Boxers avoid getting near the ropes because there is a great risk of getting pinned against them without much room to move, particularly in the corners.

The only time a boxer seems to grab the ropes is during an attempt to keep from falling down or during an attempt to pull him or herself up again. Pierce Egan used the expression in "Boxiana", the title of an 1820s article published in "Blackwood's Magazine": "Lenny found himself hanging on the ropes, where he was milled down".

Answer: old coot

An "old coot" is an elderly person, usually a man, who is particularly frustrating because of his foolishness or eccentricities. A coot is literally a waterfowl, but apparently one that seemed particularly funny looking to someone who thought transferring its name to a stupid person would be appropriate.

It does have a bill that extends to its forehead, and it frequently bobs its head as it walks or swims. In the "American Dictionary of Americanisms", John Bartlett wrote in 1859: "It [old coot] is often applied by us to a stupid person".

However, the expression was in use earlier as Frances M. Whitcher wrote, "He's an amazin' ignorant old coot" in "The Widow Bedott Papers", published in 1855.

Answer: Children sometimes offer the most remarkable insights.

To borrow a phrase, which has itself become cliche, "Kids say the darndest things", as Art Linkletter used to say on his radio show. "Out of the mouths of babes" is used by the speaker to signify amazement or amusement at what he or she has just heard spoken by a child. Sometimes the phrase may even be spoken with a bit of irony when the child is offering wisdom or advice that should have been quite obvious to the adults who are in a particular situation.

The origin of the expression is Biblical. Psalms 8:2 from the King James Version reads: "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger".

Answer: off the wall

"Off the wall" refers to an action, idea, practice, statement, or perhaps even a person that does not conform to what is traditionally accepted or expected. The exact origin of the expression is not known but one may reasonably assume that the idiom was born among those playing a particular sport.

In raquetball or handball, for example, a successful player must be nimble enough to maneuver his or her body very quickly and without much thought to be able to hit a ball that has bounced literally off a wall to travel along an unforeseen trajectory.

Another suggestion is that some players of billiards and pool refuse to play "off the wall", meaning they refuse to accept a cue stick from the rack that hangs on a wall because these sticks are used by a number of people, are often in bad condition, and interfere with accurate shooting. Whatever the origin, the expression has been used since at least the 1970s to refer to matters other than those connected to sports.

In 1974, an article from the "National Review" contains this sentence: "Brian knows how to startle the over-interviewed with off-the-wall questions that get surprising answers".

Answer: on the carpet

Originally, the expression "on the carpet" was used as we currently use the expression "on the table"--meaning that a certain topic or issue was "up for discussion". The English once used the word "carpet" to refer to a "thick table covering", and conversations and discussions were much more frequently held around tables in the past.

However, the meaning of the expression "on the carpet" eventually evolved as the meanings of words usually do. Those English wealthy enough to afford luxurious table coverings--or carpets--began to realize that these thick fabrics made very comfortable and attractive floor coverings.

However, the use of these floor coverings was usually reserved for private or formal rooms, rooms predominantly occupied or used by the wealthy homeowner.

When a domestic servant was to be reprimanded, the nobleman or noblewoman chewing out his or her employee was not going to go to the servant; instead, the servant was called to his or her employer, who would address the servant in one of the private or formal rooms, usually with a carpet in it. Thus, the servant was called "on the carpet". "On the carpet" took on a different meaning, and "on the table" replaced the original "on the carpet".

Answer: Certain regiments of Napoleon's Imperial Guard

The "old guard" are the stalwarts of a particular group and are typically members of long standing. The implication is usually that the individuals referred to as "the old guard" are fossilized defenders of a tradition. The phrase was originally used as a name for the most experienced regiments of Napoleon's Imperial Guard who also were religiously and most obviously loyal to him. Committed to Napoleon to the very end, the Old Guard led Napoleon's last charge at the Battle of Waterloo.

Answer: Macbeth

In "Macbeth", Macduff, upon learning that his wife and children have been killed by Macbeth's assassins. says the following words: "What, all my pretty chickens and their dam / at one fell swoop?" One can certainly deduce, from Macduff's figurative use of the word "chickens" to refer to his children, that "one fell swoop" refers to the sudden diving action of a bird of prey such as a hawk intent on taking a life for its own nourishment. Of course, the word "fell", as it is used here, is often a source of confusion for many. Most think of the past tense of the verb "fall"; however, that meaning has nothing to do with the meaning of "fell" in this cliched expression.

This version of the word "fell" comes from the same Latin root that led to the creation of the word "felon". Thus, its use here is meant to describe the "swoop" as a cruel, fierce, and savage action. Remarkably, the word "fell", meaning "cruel or savage", is used today only in this expression, and it continues to exist only because of this expression.

Answer: whose ox is gored

When you notice that someone is changing his or her mind on an issue after he or she learns that he or she is going to be personally affected by a certain action, then you might refer to this person's biased response by saying, "It makes a difference whose ox is gored". The use of this expression seems to stem from an old fable, which Noah Webster refers to as "The Partial Judge" and retells in his 1802 publication the "American Spelling Book". His version is told like this: "A Farmer came to a neighboring Lawyer, expressing great concern for an accident which he said had just happened. One of your Oxen, continued he, has been gored by an unlucky Bull of mine, and I should be glad to know how I am to make you reparation. Thou art a very honest fellow, replied the Lawyer, and wilt not think it unreasonable that I expect one of thy oxen in return. It is no more than justice, quoth the Farmer, to be sure; but what did I say?--I mistake--It is 'your' Bull that has killed one of 'my' Oxen. Indeed! says the Lawyer, that alters the case: I must inquire into the affair; and if--And 'if'! said the Farmer--the business I find would have been concluded without an 'if' had you been as ready to do justice to others, as to exact it from them". Obviously, if it is your own ox that has been gored, then that is a horse of a different color, no doubt. The fable must have existed long before Noah Webster as Martin Luther used the expression at the Diet of Worms in 1521.

By the way, "a clam from a different ocean" is a phrase derived completely from my own imagination.

Answer: a barrel

The "Oxford English Dictionary" suggests that the expression "over the barrell" comes from the practice of draping over a barrel someone who has nearly drowned after he or she has been pulled from the water. Many once believed that this was an effective method for removing water from a person's lungs, particularly an unconscious person's lungs.

Its figurative use was in existence at least by 1939 when Raymond Chandler wrote in "The Big Sleep", "We keep a file on unidentified bullets nowadays. Someday you might use that gun again.

Then you'd be over a barrel".

Answer: the water wagon

The mystery of the phrase "on the wagon" (or "off the wagon" if one has begun drinking again) approaches being solved when one understands that "on the wagon" is shortened version of what was originally "on the water wagon". Then, all one needs to do is learn the history of the water wagon. Before the days of pavement in America, a piece of equipment commonly seen on many roads and city streets was a water wagon, a vehicle used to spray water on the roads to keep down the dust.

However, the water was not meant to be used for drinking and, thus, could be gathered from any source, whether drinkable or not. During the temperance movement of the late nineteenth century, men who were part of various temperance groups would often be required to sign pledges that they would abstain from alcohol and that they would drink water from the water wagon or water cart before they would touch another drop of alcohol.