Sporting Terms and Idioms Trivia Quiz

Answer: American football

For those, like this quiz author, who know nothing about American Football, "first and ten" refers to the first attempt by a team to move the ball forward by 10 yards. The team in possession has four attempts to gain those 10 yards by running with or passing the ball. The team retains possession of the ball if they succeed.

Answer: Baseball

In a baseball game the final inning is the ninth. An inning consists of six outs, three for each team. If a team leads after the top of the ninth inning, it wins (there's no need to play the bottom of the ninth). Bottom of the seventh is the second half of an inning with the home team at bat.

Answer: Rugby football

Sometimes known as a Garryowen after the Irish Rugby Football Union club of that name, this is when a player kicks the ball high into the air with the aim of a colleague (or himself/herself) running under and catching it.

Answer: Curling

Curling is a tactical sport played on ice. Each team of players tries to slide heavy stones into a series of circles called a 'house'. The button is the circle a the centre of the house. The aim is to get more stones closer to the button than your opponent.

Answer: Darts

The aim of most games of darts is to run up a specified score with fewer attempts than your opponent. Regulation dart boards are divided into 20 sections numbered one to 20. Depending on where it lands in a segment, a dart can score up to three times the value. A baby ton is a score of 95. A ton is 100.

Answer: Snooker

Snooker is a game that demands a high standard of hand/eye ordination. Players use a cue to strike a 'cue ball' (aka the white) onto another ball with the aim of forcing it into a pocket. A bricole occurs when the white hits the raised 'cushion' around the playing surface after hitting the ball it was aimed at, but before striking another ball.

Answer: Boxing

Used literally, on the ropes occurs when one boxer forces another onto the ropes surrounding the ring. Used figuratively, it can refer to any situation when one of two side in any endeavour is on the verge of collapse.

Answer: Motor racing

In motor racing events, flags of different types are used to give instructions to drivers. Drivers are black flagged to order them into the pits for a breach of the rules.

Answer: Horse racing

Hacked up is a term for a horse that has won a race by a comfortably large distance.

Answer: Shinty

Shinty purists look away now: the rest of you think of shinty as being like field hockey only the ball is mostly played off the ground. The two sports share a curved stick design. The home of shinty is the highlands and islands of Scotland. Shinty sticks - the caman - were once made of dried seaweed but now more commonly from hickory

Answer: Irish road bowls

The sport of Irish road bowls bears a limited likeness to any other sport that uses the word 'bowls'. It is simplicity itself: a contest between two individuals who throw a steel ball - called a bullet - along a stretch of ordinary road. The individual who completes the specified course with the fewest deliveries wins.

The sport can be often seen in counties Cork and Armagh. Betting is practically mandatory among spectators who line the route. If you happen to witness one of these events and hear a shout of "Faugh a Ballach!" - watch out, there's a heavy steel ball coming your way.

Answer: Ice hockey

Ice hockey is one of the fastest-paced team games around. A muffin is used to describe a puck that changes direction in the air and deceives the goalkeeper. Often it is the product of a badly played shot.

Answer: Netball

Netball is a highly skilled game that has many of the same aims as basketball, including scoring by putting a ball through a high, round net. The differences are that the net does not have a backboard to bounce the ball in off and players are not allowed to dribble or run with the ball. Instead, players throw the ball to each other.

Dodging is when a player moves from side to side to confuse a marker before moving into a position to collect a pass.

Answer: Golf

Of all sports, golf is one that places a high degree of emphasis on players adhering strictly to the Laws and self-punishing when one is infringed. A gimme usually takes place on the putting green. When one player has only a short stroke to put (or even putt) the ball into the hole - aka cup - the opponent or opponents will usually count it as successful without having it actually completed.

Answer: Yachting

Yacht racing is a highly technical sport that pits competitors against each other and the weather conditions. Being able to 'read' the wind accurately can mean the difference between wining and losing. Some racers will move their craft well away from opponents if they can spot a more advantageous wind elsewhere. To bear off (or bear away), the boat's bow is moved away from the wind.