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English Quiz - Idioms 01 (Questions)

An idiom is an expression with a different meaning than its literal one, e.g. if something is hard to find you may say it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Idioms are fascinating, but they don't always make much sense until someone explains them. It can be useful in some types of writing to use idioms, especially when you are writing dialogue for a character or perhaps an advertisement or travel brochure. In other types of writing, especially the formal, it is best to avoid idiom. These phrases are so well known that your writing might sound clichéd.

So remember, the grass is always greener on the other side, no news is good news, you can't have your cake and eat it, and always let sleeping dogs lie!

Put your best foot forward and have a go at this quiz all about idioms!

1. Which idiom means "an unsuccessful search"?
[ ] A wild bird chase
[ ] A wild duck chase
[ ] A wild goose chase
[ ] A wild swan chase
2. Which expression means "you need to do better"?
[ ] Pull your sock up
[ ] Pull your socks up
[ ] Put a sock in it
[ ] Sock it to them
3. Which idiom means "to be the best"?
[ ] A hornet's nest
[ ] The bee's knees
[ ] The bee's sting
[ ] The wasp's nest
4. Which one means "to cause disagreement"?
[ ] Bone of content
[ ] Bone of contentedness
[ ] Bone of contention
[ ] Bone of contentment
5. Which one means "unlikely to happen"?
[ ] A pig in a poke
[ ] Pig-headed
[ ] Pig-iron
[ ] Pigs might fly
6. Which one means "very bored"?
[ ] Bored to cry
[ ] Bored to laugh
[ ] Bored to smile
[ ] Bored to tears
7. Which expression means "doesn't fit in"?
[ ] A kettle of fish
[ ] Fish out of water
[ ] Other fish to fry
[ ] Swim like a fish
8. Which one means "to become angry"?
[ ] To see blue
[ ] To see green
[ ] To see red
[ ] To see white
9. Which one exaggerates a problem?
[ ] Making a molehill out of a mountain
[ ] Making a mountain out of a molehill
[ ] Making a pebble out of a rock
[ ] Making an acorn out of an oak
10. Which phrase means "just"?
[ ] A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
[ ] A stitch in time saves nine
[ ] By the chattering of your teeth
[ ] By the skin of your teeth

 

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English Quiz - Idioms 01 (Answers)
1. Which idiom means "an unsuccessful search"?
[ ] A wild bird chase
[ ] A wild duck chase
[x] A wild goose chase
[ ] A wild swan chase
Literally you would run after a goose!
2. Which expression means "you need to do better"?
[ ] Pull your sock up
[x] Pull your socks up
[ ] Put a sock in it
[ ] Sock it to them
Idioms can be tricky to understand when learning another language because their meanings are not literal, but metaphoric
3. Which idiom means "to be the best"?
[ ] A hornet's nest
[x] The bee's knees
[ ] The bee's sting
[ ] The wasp's nest
An idiom creates a picture with no clue to its meaning. What is so special about a bee's knees? Do bees even have knees?
4. Which one means "to cause disagreement"?
[ ] Bone of content
[ ] Bone of contentedness
[x] Bone of contention
[ ] Bone of contentment
You can imagine two dogs fighting over a bone
5. Which one means "unlikely to happen"?
[ ] A pig in a poke
[ ] Pig-headed
[ ] Pig-iron
[x] Pigs might fly
The image created by the idiom is impossible. Have you ever seen a pig with wings?
6. Which one means "very bored"?
[ ] Bored to cry
[ ] Bored to laugh
[ ] Bored to smile
[x] Bored to tears
Have you ever been so bored that it has made you cry? Seems unlikely!
7. Which expression means "doesn't fit in"?
[ ] A kettle of fish
[x] Fish out of water
[ ] Other fish to fry
[ ] Swim like a fish
A fish is elegantly suited to its own context, water, but most cannot survive long out of that context
8. Which one means "to become angry"?
[ ] To see blue
[ ] To see green
[x] To see red
[ ] To see white
Like a bull charging at a red cloth perhaps
9. Which one exaggerates a problem?
[ ] Making a molehill out of a mountain
[x] Making a mountain out of a molehill
[ ] Making a pebble out of a rock
[ ] Making an acorn out of an oak
A molehill is much smaller than a mountain!
10. Which phrase means "just"?
[ ] A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
[ ] A stitch in time saves nine
[ ] By the chattering of your teeth
[x] By the skin of your teeth
Idioms often work by making you imagine the impossible. Teeth, of course, do not have any skin!