Animal Idioms Trivia Quiz

Answer: Bear

The word "bear" comes from the Old English word 'beran', which means "to carry or support". Over time, its meaning shifted from literally carrying a physical load to putting up with an emotional burden. The phrase dates back to the 16th century, and is found in a 1546 collection of English proverbs written by John Heywood. By Shakespeare's time, the term was well established in the English language and appears in many of his plays.

Asking you to bear with me is akin to asking you to have patience for something I am attempting to do. You might also be asked to bear or, withstand, my burden in the process.

Answer: Buck

As a form of currency, the term "buck" originates from the American colonial period when deerskins were traded as a form of currency. The phrase in this question, "buck you up", originated from 19th century Britain. To be a "buck" was to be a spirited, fashionable young man. And to be "bucked up" was the act of dressing nicely as a means of cheering someone up.

To buck someone up essentially means trying to make them happier in some way, like buying them a meal they really enjoy. The term is also slang for money. To make the big bucks means you are getting a lot of money. Alternatively, you may be frustrated with someone's timidity and tell them to buck up, demanding they stop being such a coward. Finally, If you're in a hurry to be somewhere, you might want to buck up or, hurry up and get a move on.

Answer: Dog

It is thought that the "San Francisco Call's" usage of the term in 1897 is where the phrase originated. Sportswriters used it to describe racehorses that quit or stopped running hard during a race. Although the term declined in usage by the 21st century, someone from the 1900s who was frustrated may also call out 'doggone it!' to express their displeasure.

Dogging it essentially means you are lazily or sluggishly engaging with whatever you are doing. If you normally run on the treadmill for 40 minutes, sprinting the entire way, choosing instead to jog for 30 minutes might be considered dogging it.

Answer: Fox

The first recorded use of the term 'outfox' was in the 1872 "Oxford English Dictionary", which held an entry from "Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine" using the term. Within the magazine, the term sees use in the line "Frustrated and chagrined that they had been outfoxed..."

Foxes are naturally cunning creatures, literally outfoxing nature and humans alike. To outfox someone involves simply tricking or deceiving them in some way, or perhaps out-thinking them in general.

Answer: Hog

The first time this term was actually used in formal literature was by the legendary Mark Twain's hand. Specifically, it sees use in "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", one of the most well known books ever written, which was published in 1884. Twain used the term as slang to mean to grab or stolen, as Huck wondered if someone had hogged the bag of gold that he had hidden in Peter Wilks's coffin.

Hogs are notoriously dirty, fat, slobbery animals. They are commonly used as livestock, and in some cases, are intentionally fed major portions by their owners to make their produce as fruitful as possible. To be hogging something is never said in a good or even neutral context. If you are hogging anything in a social setting, you most likely have attracted at least some degree of disdain or ire from people nearby. Taking ten slices of pizza when there are only fifteen available at an event where there are fifteen people is a prime example.

Answer: Horse

According to "Merriam Webster", the first known use of this term was in 1919. It started off as colloquial slang before being accepted as a general use term in the dictionary.

The phrase itself derives from the term horseplay, which itself likely originated in the 16th century. The prefix 'horse' generally means large, coarse or generally unstructured and unrefined. This aspect, per "Merriam Webster", likely originated in the 20th century. Young horses or, foals, are typically quite physically, albeit amicably, aggressive as a means of getting out their energy, just like human children (although hopefully kids aren't so hands-on!)

Answer: Pony

The term itself has debatable origins, but it most likely largely relates to the Latin phrase 'Legem Pone', which literally translates to pay down cash. 'Pone' is pronounced like the young horse, suggesting a connection.

The idiom pony up was most likely first used in formal writing in the year 1819. Here, it was in the "Rural Magazine and Farmer's Monthly Museum", a published news forum from Hartford, Connecticut.

Answer: Whale

The term most likely derives from one of two, or possibly both, things. The first being the word 'wale', a word meaning to raise a ridge or welt on the skin with a whip. The second being that whalebones were often used as a form of corporal punish in the eighteenth century, thus literally 'whaling on' someone with them.

The verb whale, in this context, meaning to beat on someone, was likely first recorded at the end of eighteenth century. The "Oxford English Dictionary" officially traces the word's origins to Francis Grose's "Provincial Glossary".

Answer: Wolf

The first known usage of this idiom, per the "Oxford Learner's Dictionary", was most likely in the 1862 novel "The Seven Sons of Mammon" by George Augustus Salas. In the book, the term is used in the sentence, "She used to wolf her food with her fingers."

The origin of this term is fairly straightforward: wolves devour their food using nothing but their mouths, since they are quadrupedal and do not have opposable thumbs with which to properly grip their food. As such, someone who is wolfing down their food may be enjoying it so much that they are eating it in the same way.

Answer: Yak

The term 'yak' in this context most likely originated in the 1930s, according to the "Collins Dictionary." Experts appear to believe that the word is onomatopoeic, which is to say it is a copy of the sound of random chatter and laughter. In 1950, the term was formally added to the "Oxford English Dictionary", which is where it likely appeared in written text for the first time. It then later became far more popular in general language in 1958, when a band called The Coasters released a song titled "Yakety Yak".

The phrase itself has nothing to do with the actual animal. It is a shortened way to describe yakety-yak, which is a specifically annoying, lengthy, endless speech or talk from someone.