Raining Cats and Dogs Trivia Quiz

Answer: cat

"A cat may look at a king" asserts that everyone, however lowly, has some rights. It has been traced back in written form to 16th century English. My father had a similar saying when I asked him to stop embarrassing me by staring at pretty women: "They can't do you for looking son, they can't do you for looking."

Answer: dogs

This is said to have been written down by Benjamin Franklin in the 18th century, although its origins were likely earlier. It's a warning to people to be careful about who they consort with - they may end up catching the faults of dodgy characters.

Answer: dog

This cliché is suggesting that no matter who you are, you will have some small measure of success at some time. This is recorded as being said by England's Queen Elizabeth I - presumably quoting a well known saying. It's a bit like what my friend, a keen student of racehorses, used to say: "They all get to win once."

Answer: cats

Once again, Benjamin Franklin is credited with coining this one in some form. It's making a laudable suggestion that we shouldn't be so obsessed with physical appearances. There is a scientific explanation to this monochrome maxim. In low light, the rods in our eyes are more important to what we see than the cones, and rods don't pick up colors. So all cats, and dogs for that matter, will look gray.

In bright light, the color-detecting cones come into their own.

Answer: cat

This is of course, describing someone who looks smug and pleased with themselves. This confuses me a bit because cats - all the ones I've come across anyway - are pretty much poker faced at all times. Also, cats can be lactose intolerant, so, rather than smug, the cat that gets the cream might look a bit nauseated.

Answer: dogs

When someone tells you to "let sleeping dogs lie" they are suggesting that it may be best not to try to change or improve something because that might make it worse. A bit pessimistic really, to me it conjures up the image of a big Rottweiler sleeping. Geoffrey Chaucer used a similar phrase in the 14th century, "it is nought good a slepyng hound to wake."

Answer: cat

"Curiosity killed the cat" is one of those sayings that nasty old people say to children who ask too many questions or are too exploratory or inquisitive. Its early origins used "care" rather than "curiosity", such as in works by Ben Jonson or William Shakespeare. How or when it changed to "curiosity" is a curiosity, and it has appeared in print in that form from the 19th century.

Answer: dog

The dog days of summer are the sweltering hot Northern Hemisphere months of July and August, when Sirius, the Dog Star, is prominent in the night sky. Sirius, from the constellation Canis Major (big dog) is the brightest star in the night sky and has captured the imagination of people for millennnia.

Answer: cat

If you let the cat out of the bag you give away a secret. It was first used in print in the eighteenth century. The origins of the saying are not known, but I kind of think that's just as well. They can't be nice.

Answer: dog

If a situation is described as "dog eat dog" it suggests ruthless competition. It's been a popular song title - used by artists such as Adam Ant, AC/DC and Ted Nugent, and a popular title for movies - such as Paul Schrader's 2016 black comedy starring Nicolas Cage and Willem Dafoe.