The Phrase A Week Quiz

Phrases and Sayings Home

1. 'He who can does; he who cannot, teaches' is a quotation of Oscar Wilde George Bernard Shaw Charles Dickens Margaret Thatcher 2. 'Baker's Dozen' originated as The title of a 1930's film Thirteen - the number of ounces in a standard loaf Thirteen - the extra loaf added as bakers' insurance against giving short weight 3. 'In the offing' derived from The name of the outer ring of an archery target A short form of 'in the offering' The name of the area of sea outside a harbour 4. The phrase 'Catch 22' was in common use before Joseph Heller's 1961 novel False True 5. 'Run Amuk' comes from The Malayan word 'amok', meaning frenzy The Norse word 'runeamic' meaning pillage The Old English for 'run a mile' 6. The word 'posh' derives from 'Port out, starboard home' False True 7. The phrase 'Salad Days' was coined by Noel Coward William Shakespeare Mrs Beeton 8. 'The green-eyed monster', referring to jealousy comes from Shakespeare's Othello The Incredible Hulk Thomas Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd One of the seven deadly sins 9. 'Brass monkeys' were the stacks of cannonballs used on marine fighting vessels False True 10. 'Rack and ruin' derives from A reference to sunken ships, which became covered with bladderack seaweed The names of the two jesters at the court of Henry VIII A variant of 'wreck and ruin' 11. 'Umbrage' was first A town in the west of England A shady area A type of medicine 12. The first person described as a 'living legend' and 'a legend in her own lifetime' was Florence Nightingale Marlene Deitrich Queen Elizabeth I 13. 'Never-Never land' was An invention of J M Barrie Derived from 'not Netherland' - a 17th century English term meaning 'far away'. A region of Australian desert 14. A 'tinker's damn' derived from the repairing of pots and pans True False 15. 'Off with his head' was coined by William Shakespeare Lewis Carroll King Henry VIII 16. 'At loggerheads' originated from The English coastal town of Loggerheads Fights between head-butting stags A fight using a weapon called a loggerhead 17. The phrase 'taken aback' derived from Nautical language Surprise at being stabbed in the back Being led backwards in a blindfold 18. 'Namby Pamby' was A nursery rhyme character A soft cheese A parodying name for the poet Ambrose Philips 19. A 'dead ringer' was originally a horse substituted in order to gain advantage in a race True False 20. 'Sprucing up' derives from The wearing of fashionable leather jackets A variant of 'spicing up' Decorating a Christmas tree 21. 'Heinz' 57 varieties' was coined by Mr. Heinz after the number of varieties of canned food he sold False - it was coined by someone else True False - Heinz had 60 varieties at the time 22. 'Drat it' comes from A curse uttered on seeing a rat A euphemistic version of 'God rot it' The translation from Latin of 'All is lost' 23. 'The beast with two backs' became part of the language in The 17th century The 20th century The 19th century The 18th century 24. 'Doolally' derives from 'Druel Alley' - the address of the Bedlam Clinic in London A sanatorium in Deolali, India The Irish eccentric George Dooley 25. 'Humble pie' was A variant of 'umble pie', i.e. a pie made from innards Named after the Victorian stable keeper James Humble The first meal served to monks after Christmas 26. 'Hook, line and sinker' refers to A cocktail made from honey, orange and gin The three pirates in Peter Pan Fishing tackle 27. 'The first water' referred to Highest quality diamonds The practice of offering water first to the King in the English court The first bottle of brandy taken from a barrel 28. A 'whipping boy' was A corruption of 'weeping boy' A boy who took the punishment when an English prince did wrong The Malayan term for victim - 'wai ping' 29. 'Flotsam and jetsam' were The spots seen after looking at a bright light A 19th century musichall act The debris remaining after a shipwreck 30. The nonsense phrase 'A Spaniard in the Works' was coined by John Lennon Reverend Spooner Lewis Carroll Salvador Dali