Idiom questions are a quiz setter's favourite because they sound like general
knowledge and are really etymology. "Where does the phrase X come from" has a
definite answer, is satisfying when you get it, and is almost impossible to
guess — which is exactly the profile of a good tie-breaker.
The shapes they take
Three of them. Complete the phrase, which is free if you have it.
What is the missing noun — bite the what, quick on the what — which
narrows the answer to a word. And where does it come from, which is the
real question and usually resolves to one of a small number of sources:
sailing, warfare, blacksmithing, printing, horse-trading, the theatre, or the
law courts.
Knowing the source categories is more useful than memorising individual
phrases, because a plausible guess becomes available. A phrase involving rope,
sheets, cutting or slack is nautical. One involving strikes, irons or
tempering is a forge. One about lines, cases or types is printing.
The caution
A large share of popular etymologies are invented, often long after the
phrase. Acronym origins in particular are nearly always false — the ones people
confidently cite for "posh", "golf" and several unprintable words are all
fabrications. Setters split into those who ask for the true origin and those who
repeat the story, which is an occupational hazard of this topic;
the invented etymologies sets out
which are which.
Cockney rhyming slang is a related staple, asked as
"what does X mean", and the
Shakespeare question — how many words and phrases he coined — comes round
constantly, generally
with a wildly inflated number
attached. Wider language questions are
here.
The tuxedo is named after a place in which US state?
Answer New York (Tuxedo Park)
Revealing a secret is letting which animal out of the bag?
Answer The cat
Quitting a habit abruptly and completely is going cold what?
Answer Turkey
A costly but useless possession is a white what?
Answer Elephant
'Companion' literally means one you share what with?
Answer Bread
'Sour grapes' — disparaging what you can't have — comes from whose fable?
Answer Aesop's (The Fox and the Grapes)
The word 'salary' derives from the Latin for which commodity?
Answer Salt
Giving away a secret is spilling the what?
Answer Beans
Denim and jeans take their names from which two cities?
Answer Nîmes (de Nîmes) and Genoa
Snubbing someone is giving them the cold what?
Answer Shoulder
'Sinister' is Latin for which direction?
Answer Left
'Quarantine' comes from the Italian for which number?
Answer Forty
'Robot' entered English from a 1920 play in which language?
Answer Czech
Issuing a challenge is throwing down the what?
Answer Gauntlet
'Bungalow' derives from a word meaning 'in the style of' which region?
Answer Bengal
A deliberately misleading clue is called a red what?
Answer Herring
'Shampoo' came into English from which language?
Answer Hindi
To face something painful head-on is to bite the what?
Answer Bullet
To make peace after a quarrel is to bury the what?
Answer Hatchet
Buying something unseen is buying 'a pig in a' what?
Answer Poke
Getting information 'straight from the horse's mouth' originally alluded to which reliable source?
Answer The horse's own owner, trainer or jockey (a racing tip)
The gymnasium takes its name from the Greek for what?
Answer Naked
A final performance before retirement or death is which bird's song?
Answer A swan song
Insincere displays of grief are which animal's tears?
Answer Crocodile tears
A victory won at ruinous cost is named after which king?
Answer Pyrrhus (of Epirus)
Complete the proverb: 'Every cloud has a…'?
Answer Silver lining
Which word comes from the name of a land agent ostracised in 1880s Ireland?
Answer Boycott
The sandwich is named after which title?
Answer The Earl of Sandwich
A single fatal weakness in an otherwise strong person is their what?
Answer Achilles' heel
Coasting on past glories is resting on your what?
Answer Laurels