Mixed Up Puzzle Trivia Quiz

Answer: Nine day wonder

This expression goes back over several hundred years and has meant different things at different times throughout history. Today we understand the term to mean something that is very sensational which has taken place, and that is reported everywhere in the media. After a short time, however, the sensation dies down and people quickly forget what has happened.

Answer: The year dot

The "year dot" is a term that means something is very old, so old that it goes back before years were being numbered. The expression itself is not as old as that however. It first began to appear in England in the 19th century with a mention of it in the 1857 work "Land of the slave and the free: or, Cuba, the United States, and Canada" by Henry Anthony Murray.

He mentions that "our ancestors adopted this system in the year dot, before one was invented...". Presumably he is referring to the horrendous practice of slavery, as if the length of time it has been around was some kind of justification for its continuance.

Answer: Behind the eight ball

To be behind the eight ball means to be in a position where you are in trouble or difficulties. This is a term that refers to the table game of pool, but when used in everyday conversation, it means you've landed yourself in a spot of bother that may take some delicacy or extra effort to set it all right.

Answer: Pearls before swine

This means you've offered something of value, whether it be words or even concrete items of worth, to people who haven't got the culture or intelligence or wit to appreciate them. This term can be found back as far as the Bible, in Matthew 7:6, where it advises people to never cast their pearls before swine.

There is a difference, however, in offering someone to someone who deliberately mocks or rejects that gift, while sensing its intrinsic worth, than offering it to someone who doesn't know its worth out of ignorance - but is willing to learn.

Answer: Pieces of eight

Pieces of eight were Spanish silver coins that were made in that country's huge empire from 1497. Each silver coin was called a "real de a ocho" which translates, logically so, to "piece of eight" in English. This coin was used in many other countries as well, so that it basically became valued in most countries of the western world at the time. For several centuries, sailing ships were in danger of being boarded and plundered by pirates, and this term became associated with that group of people as a result. "Agggh, oi'll 'ave yer guts fer gaiters, ya scurvy barnacles - and hand over yer pieces o' eight while oi'm at it!"

Answer: Red rag

This means to literally wave a red rag at a bull, as in the Spanish torture of animals spectacles. Or it can mean, in a broader sense, to bait and annoy someone enough so that that person will lose control and react violently in some way. Telling me, for example, that men were born to rule over women, usually results in an immediate and drastic reaction.

Answer: Three point turn

This is a very difficult art to master when first learning to drive, where the quaking learner driver, in three moves, has to turn the vehicle around so that it is facing back towards the way it came. In Australia, we spin the steering wheel like mad to the right as we head towards the gutter on the opposite side of the road, and then, putting the car in reverse, spin the wheel like mad in the opposite direction as we reverse the vehicle back across the road. Next, perspiring freely, and hoping the examiner hasn't noticed we hit the gutter we're not supposed to touch on either side, we put the car back into forward drive again and spin the wheel back in the opposite direction once more, so that by now we're facing where we're supposed to be facing. Making sure of course during the entire exercise, that we haven't run over any cats, or hit any old ladies crossing the street, or knocked over any garbage bins, or any other cars coming along the road.

We drive on the left side of the road in this country. Other countries drive on the right, so depending where you live, these directions are all reversed. This manoeuvre sounds much more difficult than it really is. For learner drivers however, it's alarming - but nowhere near as alarming as trying to do a reverse parallel park. I'm of the opinion that that particular driving manoeuvre was designed by the devil.

Answer: Say cheese

Saying cheese is believed to make our mouths turn up at the edges in the semblance of a smile when we are having our photograph taken. The "ee" sound in the word "Cheese" forces our lips back, so that our teeth are showing. In singing, this is known as the E grin.

When singing the vowel E however, if our lips have gone back in that grimace that is supposed to resemble a smile, we have produced that vowel incorrectly.

Answer: Technicoloured Yawn

This disgusting expression means that someone has vomited. It's common and vulgar and makes me shudder whenever I hear it. It usually is used when describing someone who has has thrown up violently from over indulging in alcohol.

Answer: Six feet under

This term means that somebody is dead and has been buried. It is more of a black humour expression than anything else, and not meant to be used on serious occasions, or while attending funerals of anyone's loved one. Not under any circumstances would you say to anyone, for example, "Oh, so your dear old grandmother who reared you after you became an orphan is now six feet under, is she?" That would probably result in buckets of tears. We use it instead in more flippant conversations when we say we've got rid of something. Or we might see it in black comedy movies where they're bumping people off left, right and centre, and the bodies have all been put six feet under.

In other words, bodies have been disposed of in one way or another.