Vocabulary: Some Like It 'Hot' Quiz

Answer: hot air

The expression "hot air" comes from the mid 19th century. The first time it can be seen in print is in Mark Twain's "Gilded Age" from 1873: "The most airy schemes inflated the hot air of the Capital." It can refer to the hot air coming out of one's lungs as they drone on and on about the nothing interesting that they are trying to tell you.

It can also refer to the fact that hot air rises and expands, like the ego of the person who is pontificating.

Answer: hotbed

A hotbed is a place where something, whether physical or mental, can grow rapidly. "A hotbed of dissention" can refer to a place that fosters rebellious thought, whereas "a hotbed of development" might be a section of a city that is rapidly being built up and new facilities established.

The term originates from the 17th-century expression for section of a garden with a pile of manure that is left until needed for fertilization. That section of the garden (bed) was often warmer than the other parts, hence it was 'the hotter bed'.

Answer: hot-blooded

The expression "hot-blooded" goes back to 15th-century physiology when referring to the blood of humans as a subset of mammals and the temperature of their blood as compared to reptiles. It was later used, first in print by Shakespeare, to refer to someone who is passionate and quick to show their emotions. In "The Merry Wives of Windsor", the Bard wrote: "The Windsor bell hath struck twelve; the minute draws on. Now, the hot-bloodied-Gods assist me!".

This expression can refer to anger, as in "the hot-blooded man struck the person who he thought insulted him", or love, as in "the hot-blooded couple could not take their hands off one another", as well as other emotions.

Answer: hot dog

The debate as to the origin of the frankfurter (referring to Frankfurt, Germany) or the wiener (referring to Vienna, Austria) is about as hotly contested as the origin of the term "hot dog". One theory says that it was a term coined in the United States in colleges referring to an urban legend that the meat used in the hot dog contained actual dog meat. Another one was that the original franks were thick, and some butchers started selling long, thin versions of the same meat. People thought that these resembled a dachshund (also called a weiner dog) and nicknamed the thin sausage a "dachshund sausage", and later this was shortened to a "hot dog sausage", and finally to "hot dog".

Don't worry, hot dogs contain no dog meat whatsoever. At least, in kosher ones, you know exactly what kind of meat you're getting, no wondering whether it's 'pink slime' or not...

Answer: hot-wire

To hot-wire a car means to try to bypass the keyed ignition and use the wires leading to the ignition (usually found under the steering column) to create the spark to start the car's engine. It comes from the name for the wire in alternating current that carries the current, i.e. the "hot" wire, usually with a black sheathing (though occasionally red).

Answer: hot water

"Oooooh, you're in trouble now... you're in some real hot water!"

The expression 'hot water' refers to a situation where someone is mad at you for something you've done. You're in trouble! The expression ranges back to at least the 16th century and it may have its origins from when a defence mechanism was to pour a pot of hot water on invaders to get them to back off. Alternatively, it could refer to cooking, or to a practice of getting a criminal to dip their hand into boiling water and seeing how quickly it will heal.

Answer: hotline

A hotline is a phone line dedicated to an organization or a particular subject. People can call into the hotline, usually toll-free, and participate in whatever the line is dedicated for or get the information they need from it. It can also be set up as a direct phone line between two important entities, like a hotline between world leaders that is the only number that those phones can contact.

The term was first used in the 1950s.

Answer: a cat on a hot tin roof

Being an 'eager beaver' is just like being 'a cat on a hot tin roof'. A cat would probably be very uncomfortable on a hot tin roof, hence it would be eager to get off of it and down onto the cooler pavement. The expression probably originated from a similar expression "like a cat on a hot bake-stone".

This can be seen in writing a 1678 book called "Proverbs" by John Ray. Later it appeared as "like a cat on hot bricks" and in Tennessee William's 1955 play "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" it appeared in its present form.

Answer: hot streak

"The gambler admired the pile of chips in front of him as he contemplated his hot streak".

A hot streak is when someone has an exceptionally fortuitous period of good luck. The term was first seen in the 1930s in the Moberly (Missouri) Monitor-Index. It can be applied to any sort of continued success, but most commonly to gambling and to sports achievements.

Answer: hot potato

If you're talking about a sensitive issue, or perhaps one that is very volatile and could blow up in your face, then you have a hot potato on your hands. The issue then becomes, to whom do you pass on the hot potato before you get singed by it? It can be awkward if you're the last one left holding the hot potato...

The idiom can first be found in the 19th century and came from the expression "to drop like a hot potato". One of the first times that it was in print was a 1824 book by Joseph Donaldson, "Recollections of an Eventful Life: Chiefly Passed in the Army" when he wrote:

"I attempted to help myself to some corn, which was lying in a basket.
-"Drop that like a hot potato," said one of the Connaught Rangers.
I tried another basket, but it also was appropriated"