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Never Saying What We Mean Trivia Quiz

So many times we say one thing to mean something else. Let's test your skill and knowledge in this area of English language. A quiz written in England, but which will probably be just as relevant to all English speaking nations.

A multiple-choice quiz by rialto88. Estimated time: 6 mins.

Author
rialto88

Time
6 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
136,975

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
7 / 10

Plays
3359

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Please complete this common expression "On your head__________".
(It means that the person is the one responsible for the outcome whether good or bad).

Answer: (Two Words both of two letters)

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Question 2 of 10

2. Please complete the following saying "What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the____________".

Answer: (One Word of six letters)

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Question 3 of 10

3. Please complete this saying "To behave like a bear with a sore______"

Answer: (One Word of four letters)

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Question 4 of 10

4. Please complete this expression " Head over_________ in love".

Answer: (One word of five letters (plural))

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Question 5 of 10

5. If you want to say that a place has really deteriorated you might say "this place has really gone to the________". Please complete this expression.

Answer: (One Word- plural, four letters)

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Question 6 of 10

6. When English people stop talking to someone they send that person to "___________". Please complete the missing word in the last sentence.

Answer: (One word-Someone rode to fame here)

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Question 7 of 10

7. If we want to tell someone that they are working too hard we tell them that "you are burning the candle___________". Please complete this saying. Hint

too long

too much

too hard

at both ends

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Question 8 of 10

8. If we place a bet on a horse to win and thus come first we tell the bookmaker that we want to bet "on the________". Please fill in the missing word.

Answer: (One Word (four letters ))

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Question 9 of 10

9. If we tell someone that they have provided exactly the right answer we say "You've hit it on the__________". What is the missing word please in the previous sentence?

Answer: (one word (four letters))

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Question 10 of 10

10. Finally, an easy one. Please complete this expression "__________ are better than one".

Answer: (Two Words (three letters and five letters. Second word plural))

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Please complete this common expression "On your head__________". (It means that the person is the one responsible for the outcome whether good or bad).

Answer: be it

Instead of saying "this is your responsibility" the more dramatic and theatrical way of presenting the matter is to make it a type of Sword of Damacles hanging over the person's head. The politicians would call this language a "soundbite" which the media love to quote as it conveys a multitude of meaning in just five words.

2. Please complete the following saying "What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the____________".

Answer: gander

Another excellent soundbite much loved by those in public life. You are telling someone that if they do something, then they should not complain when the similar happens to them. Eleven words carry a lot of meaning and put a lasting picture in the mind.

3. Please complete this saying "To behave like a bear with a sore______"

Answer: head

Few of us have ever met a bear with a sore head, but I imagine that they do grow quite upset in these circumstances. This expression is another easy way to cut somebody down to size and to allege that they are getting too upset over something.

4. Please complete this expression " Head over_________ in love".

Answer: heels

Well, when someone is deeply in love this expression does really paint some vivid imagery in the mind about that person!

5. If you want to say that a place has really deteriorated you might say "this place has really gone to the________". Please complete this expression.

Answer: dogs

Why do dogs get such a reputation as this expression implies? Surely pigs or rats create a better picture in the mind. However, English speakers always pick on our best friend, the canine, for this derisory remark.

6. When English people stop talking to someone they send that person to "___________". Please complete the missing word in the last sentence.

Answer: Coventry

Now what do we English have against Coventry? Having been there I have no problem with it and the people seem friendly enough and the food was good! Our learned member Picquero now informs me that the expression was first used by the Earl of Clarendon in his account of the English Civil War. Royalist prisoners captured in Birmingham were sent to the Parliamentary garrison at Coventry.

Here they were unwelcome and received no sympathy and thus the expression originated.

7. If we want to tell someone that they are working too hard we tell them that "you are burning the candle___________". Please complete this saying.

Answer: at both ends

Well, it must be a strange candle holder that allows you to burn the candle from both ends! It would seem that the dripping wax may also be a problem. Provided that you have a good electric light I presume that the workload doesn't matter?

8. If we place a bet on a horse to win and thus come first we tell the bookmaker that we want to bet "on the________". Please fill in the missing word.

Answer: head

Perhaps horses prefer people to put money on their heads, seems a strange idea though?

9. If we tell someone that they have provided exactly the right answer we say "You've hit it on the__________". What is the missing word please in the previous sentence?

Answer: head

This expression does have some logic in it in that it indicates that you have reached exactly the point that you should have reached. However, the vivid imagery created in the mind does show why the English language never lacks beauty.

10. Finally, an easy one. Please complete this expression "__________ are better than one".

Answer: two heads

Surely one head may be better than a thousand heads if we are dealing with an Einstein or a Solomon? However, we English persist in this expression for its general correctness in most situations. Well there we finish, but be sure that while you are still trying to "get your heads round" these questions (another good old English saying) there is more coming your way and soon.

Source: Author rialto88

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor fringe before going online.
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