Pot Calling the Kettle Black Trivia Quiz

Answer: Closet

The expression can also be a 'skeleton in the cupboard', but either way it refers to something which is likely to cause huge embarrassment if it becomes public. The first use of the phrase found in print dates from 1816.

Answer: The Bible

This comes from Psalm 23, probably the best known of all, which begins with the line 'The Lord is my shepherd'. In many cases, the person using the expression is being thankful and grateful for their blessings, although it can also be used in the sarcastic sense - perhaps when your boss gives you yet more work to finish before you can go home.

Answer: Out of the frying pan into the fire

To be in the 'frying pan' would be a situation of some discomfort, but jumping out of it and landing in 'the fire' would be even worse. The English version of this expression date from the early sixteenth century.

'To fight fire with fire' is to use the same methods as your adversary, while to 'kick the bucket' means dying. 'Raining stair-rods' refers to a heavy downpour.

Answer: Bottom drawer

The phrase has been around since the nineteenth century and most often refers to cotton or linen items, such as bedding and tablecloths. The items were bought to be saved until after the wedding, although probably not literally in a bottom drawer. According to notes I've received, Americans would call this a 'hope chest' and Australians refer to it as a 'glory box'.

Answer: False

Unfortunately, it means that you've failed. The expression refers to someone trying to please too many people at the same time. For example, organising a party to appeal to both senior citizens and teenagers is likely to end up pleasing neither, thus 'falling between two stools'.

Answer: Towel

Taken from boxing, when a towel is literally thrown into the ring to prevent the losing competitor from taking more punishment, the expression has passed into everyday use as a metaphor for giving up.

Throwing your 'hat into the ring' refers to someone deciding to take part in a contest, so is the opposite. Throwing 'toys out of the pram' refers to having a tantrum while 'throwing stones' is to make an accusation against someone.

Answer: Spanner

The expression is recorded in print in 'Right Ho, Jeeves' in 1934, one of the books about the rather hopeless Bertie Wooster written by P. G. Wodehouse. The phrase can refer to anything which causes a change of arrangements, from an unexpectedly cancelled train to an illness meaning a holiday has to be rearranged.

Answer: Iron

I'm referring to the saying 'strike while the iron is hot' which isn't really based on the iron used in the home, but that of the blacksmith's forge. The expression has been around for many years, with one reference dating back to the mid-sixteenth century.

Answer: Bucket

This is an expression which originates from the Bible, appearing in Isaiah 40:15: 'Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance'. Used just as often, and meaning the same thing, is 'a drop in the ocean'.

Answer: Aga saga

'Aga saga' is used to describe stories set in villages and featuring a certain type of family - those who are likely to have the particular type of cast iron cooker which needs a fairly large kitchen to accommodate it. It's often used in a slightly derogatory manner, and was first coined in 1992.

'Kitchen sink' drama is much more 'working class' based, 'soap opera' refers to television shows and the 'gutter press' relates to newspapers.