Origins of Idioms Trivia Quiz

Answer: Seven Year War

The Seven Year War, fought between 1754 and 1763, was one that involved all the great European nations at that time in history. Such was its ferocity and range that the five main continents at that time were all involved. To a degree, it could be described as a World War long before the later World Wars of the 20th century. Once again, as had been the case for many centuries prior, the two major combatants in this disastrous engagement were England and France. At its conclusion, which ultimately resulted in the loss of one and a half million lives, the balance of power in Europe was irrevocably altered.

At the 1760 Battle of Warburg which took place during the Seven Year War in present day Germany, British General John Manners, the Marquess of Granby, made a name for himself for leading the British army in such a ferocious charge against the French forces that both his hat and wig blew away. This resulted in the expression "Going at it bare-headed" and, to the day, the British Blues and Royals regiment still holds to the tradition of saluting even if not wearing full headwear regalia. Today we understand this saying to mean giving some desired goal one hundred per cent of effort, physical or mental.

Answer: Falconry

This saying's origins lie in the medieval sport of falconry, where those beautiful high speed predatory birds were trained by man to hunt, seize and kill small animals. Falcons have fine, tapering wings which enable them to dart and change direction in the skies at amazing speeds. That coupled with their sharp sense of sight and hunting instincts practically guaranteed no prey would escape. Today we understand this saying to mean that any asset of some kind that we actually possess is better than the prospect of receiving several more that may not ever materialise.

Answer: Horse racing

To "back the field" means that a punter places a bet on all races in any race except one that he is sure to lose. Basically this means that the punter is betting against that particular poor performer. One wonders if this gave rise to the expression "a fool and his money are soon parted".

This practice has been known since at least 1878 when it is defined in the Chambers Encyclopedia as "There are men ... ready to lay against any horse and 'back' the 'field'." It can of course apply to other sports or competitions as well as horse racing where a gambler is prepared to bet on every contestant in an event except for the one considered most likely to lose.

Answer: Apprentices

Today we understand the expressions "to hold a candle to" or "can't hold a candle to" as meaning that no comparison can be made between two categories or people when it comes down to the better choice of the two. However, this term originally referred to apprentices or other workers in a lowly position with a master of a particular trade.

Their degree of responsibility consisted in part of only holding a candle closer to the master so that he could see better to carry out finer work. It appears in Edward Dering's 1641 work "The fower cardinal-vertues of a Carmelite fryar" in which he states that "Though I be not worthy to hold the candle to Aristotle."

Answer: A happily married elderly couple

This is one expression that hasn't drifted away from its origins at all, and today is still used to refer to a happily married old couple as much as it did back in the 16th century. The biggest question to be asked is whether it originated from a real couple or a literary creation. It does appear to be based on fact, however, for it is often attributed to the English printer Henry Woodfall (1686-1747) whose employer was a man named John Darby, married for many long and happy years to his wife, Joan. Henry Woodfall is also believed to be the composer of the old 1735 song "The Joys of Love Never Forgot" which has lyrics that include the following:

"Old Darby, with Joan by his side,
You've often regarded with wonder:
He's dropsical, she is sore-eyed,
Yet they're never happy asunder."

Answer: Bear

Today, we understand the expression to "lick into shape" as meaning to sometimes rather forcefully make someone or some entity to act in a more efficient way or in the manner desired by the licker. This, however was a phrase that arose in medieval Europe, when it meant something entirely different. During that period of history when little was known of the natural world, and myths and old wives tales abounded everywhere, people once believed that baby bears were born without any discernible shape at all, and that it was the mother bear's job to set about licking the shapeless bundle she had produced into that resembling a small bear cub.

Answer: Musket

Many people mistakenly believe that this saying dates back to the days of the Californian gold rush days of the 19th century, when miners and prospectors spotted the glint of gold as they panned for that precious metal, but this saying has been around since the 17th century at least.

It refers to the old flintlock muskets that operated with the use of a flint mechanism. When preparing to fire these weapons, small amounts of gunpowder were placed in a small pan. When lit successfully, they fired a bullet. Sometimes though, the gunpowder flared up and nothing happened at all. That was referred to as a flash in the pan, a term today that we understand to mean something or someone that promises a successful outcome, but proves to be a failure after an initial positive beginning.

Answer: Pipe organs

Pipe organs, the sound of which I heartily dislike, can be traced back, amazingly so, to the old water organs used in Ancient Greece to produce music. These instruments work by driving pressurised air via the keyboard down to the organ pipes. As a key is hit on the keyboard, it forces wind down into the selected pipe.

Some of the largest organs in the world have some twenty thousand of these pipes, with each one producing a single pitch. Oh ugh, I detest the old dinosaurs of things. Each stop (or knob) on an organ controls one whole set of pipes, and playing one of those old things is not like whistling Dixie.

A skilled organist in fact is worth his or her weight in gold. Or wind. Interestingly the word "stop", musically speaking, once meant a note of music, so you can see how it all evolved. Today we understand this expression to mean going all out to achieve some desired goal. Back then though, if all the stops on a pipe organ were pulled out during play, you'd just about have your head blown off with the sound produced.

Answer: Poker

The game of poker appears to have arisen in the United States in the late 1820s, particularly so on those beautiful old Mississippi riverboats, where music hall or gambling seem to have been the prime forms of entertainment. It took off even further during the California gold rushes of 1848-1855, during which hard worked for money could be lost more than easily at a card table. Today we understand "passing the buck" as directing the responsibility for some work, project or mistake onto another person or organisation. Back then, when the term emerged at the poker table, it was to save arguments over whose turn it was to next deal.

The person next in line for this had a marker placed in front of him by the previous dealer on completion of the deal.

Initially, that marker was a knife (gulp), and many knives back then had handles that were shaped from the horns of bucks. The knife itself eventually became known as the "buck", so there you have it.

Answer: Common rabble

A bobtail in Shakespeare's day was a horse's tail that had been docked. This could be done for various reason, but usually it was to prevent the poor old horse from having its once luxuriant attachment caught up in any machinery in use at that time in history.

This left poor old Dobbin with nothing left to flick away flies though. Shakespeare refers to a bobtail in his 1605 play, "King Lear". Within a few short years, a bobtail had evolved or expanded to also mean a rascal or any other undesirable person.

The meanings of rag is today the same as it was back then, and a tag was a torn piece of material dangling from something. Together, these three words, by Samuel Pepys' time, had come to mean a group of noisy celebrating people, usually of the lower to middle classes.

It was known then as "tag, rag and bobtail" before evolving into the more alphabetically pleasing "rag, tag and bobtail". Pepys uses this term in his famous diary on March 6, 1659, after attending a function which apparently he didn't enjoy.

He described it as "The dining room...was full of tag, rag, and bobtail, dancing, singing, and drinking".