Speak Your Meat Trivia Quiz

Answer: Chatting

To chew the fat is to chat amiably, without any particular purpose in mind; it's simply an agreeable way to pass the time. Talking, of course, moves the jaw muscles in a way similar to slowly working over a piece of gristle; hence, chewing the fat.

Answer: Family members - a parent and child, or a couple

English speakers love to use food words and phrases as terms of endearment; witness, for example, "honey," "pumpkin," or "sugar." "Lamb chop" is just such an affectionate phrase. My mother used it frequently for my brother and me, when we were small children; sweethearts also sometimes use it for each other.

The phrase is also famous as the name of a sock puppet operated by ventriloquist Shari Lewis, the star of the 1990s children's television show "Lamb Chop's Play-Along".

Answer: The substance of your complaint against John

If you have a beef with a person (or a business or other organization), you have a real problem with them. It isn't a simple surface matter of dislike; a beef is deeper and more serious. Robin Hood, for example, had a beef with the sheriff of Nottingham, and the Untouchables had a beef with Al Capone. The related expression "Where's the beef?" asks what's really at the heart of an issue.

Answer: A frank, open discussion

When people talk turkey, they drop all the justifications and euphemisms that soften ordinary conversation. This isn't an invitation to be rude, but rather to be candid, or even blunt. Does the project need more money, more personnel, a different type of support -- or is it flatly impossible? Your boss is hoping that this conversation will yield the answer.

Answer: They have simple tastes.

Here, "meat and potatoes" stands in for the basics: these two items, the idiom assumes, are the fundamental elements of a good meal. Everything else is gravy (sorry) - it may be a nice bonus, but it's unnecessary. Hence, a meat-and-potatoes kind of person doesn't really go for the frills, but prefers the simple approach.

The description is not an insult; often, it's a compliment! Likewise, if you're getting down to the meat and potatoes of an issue, you're cutting through the unimportant surface issues to the heart of the matter.

Answer: A politician

"Rubber chicken" is a derogatory (but accurate) description of the mass-produced, too-long-warmed food that's typical of large banquets - such as campaign events or business dinners, exactly the kinds of evenings where a politician might be called upon to make a speech. Chicken is a standard menu item at such events, and it's easy to end up with unappetizing flavors and textures when you're trying to serve two hundred people all at once.

Rubber chickens (these ones made with real rubber!) are also popular props for comedians, especially slapstick ones.

Answer: Exuberant sideburns extending toward the mouth

Sideburns and mutton chops are varieties of facial hair, so you're most likely looking for a man. Sideburns grow along the sides of the face; mutton chops are sideburns that go all the way down and start to follow the line of the lower jaw, though they may spread out and cover the entire cheek. (Once there's facial hair below the mouth, the whole thing is typically filed under "beard.") Presumably, the shape of this hairstyle reminded someone of a mutton chop, a cut of sheep's meat that includes a rib.

Answer: Add experiences and responsibilities to their résumé

To beef something up means to add more substance to it; you might beef up security by adding guards or an alarm system, or beef yourself up by working out regularly. The usual way of beefing up a résumé is to take on more responsibilities or a different job, reinforcing claims of qualifications or interest in a given area.

Answer: The person provides financial support for his or her family.

To bring home the bacon is to earn the money that pays for a family's necessities, and the occasional treat. Curiously, the idiom cannot refer to the literal bringing home of fatty pork strips purchased from the butcher (except as a joke); "the bacon," nowadays, is strictly metaphorical. Bacon stands in for a paycheck whether the household is vegan, carnivorous, or anything in between.

Answer: He over-acts in front of an audience.

A ham is an actor who chews the scenery, so to speak: lighting up in front of an audience and going to great lengths to keep them entranced. A storytelling ham among friends might exaggerate facial expressions, gestures, and even the timbre of his or her voice, to give life to the story. My own father is a classic ham ... and I'm told it's hereditary.