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English Idioms Quiz #2

Fill the blanks in these English language idioms.
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Featured Quiz
Last updated: October 2, 2014
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First submittedFebruary 16, 2012
Times taken74,476
Average score63.3%
Rating4.12
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Idiom
Caught red-handed
Every trick in the book
Fiddle while Rome burns
The writing on the wall
Too hot to handle
Too close for comfort
Five-finger discount
On a wing and a prayer
Three sheets to the wind
Will it play in Peoria?
Idiom
Wither on the vine
Tempest in a teapot
Make a mountain out of a molehill
Straw that broke the camel's back
Damn with faint praise
Play devil's advocate
A double whammy
Exception that proves the rule
Mum's the word
Jack of all trades
Idiom
Take with a grain of salt
Reinvent the wheel
School of hard knocks
In one fell swoop
How do you like them apples
More bang for the buck
The boy who cried wolf
By the skin of one's teeth
Treat with kid gloves
Lo and behold
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84 Comments
theLAYTshow
+9
Level 37
Feb 16, 2012
I have never heard it referred to as a 'tempest' in a teapot, only ever a 'storm'. If I remember correctly I did poorly in the first idioms quiz, so no wonder I missed 7 in this one...
helenap13
+3
Level 66
Jan 21, 2016
You should read "Anne of Green Gables". There's a whole chapter devoted to "A Tempest in the School Teapot".
NathanCreek
+3
Level 34
Oct 24, 2016
"Tempest in a teapot" is all I've ever heard...
CardinalSin
+4
Level 78
Mar 15, 2019
then you've never lived
divantilya
+1
Level 36
Jan 31, 2017
Could you be confusing "Tempest in a teapot" with "Any Port in a Storm"?
hirsutebodkin
+12
Level 58
Mar 15, 2019
I've only ever heard 'storm in a teacup'
JackintheBox
+8
Level 79
Oct 19, 2020
I only use 'storm in a teacup'.
RAFhatter
+3
Level 49
Jul 15, 2021
storm in a teacup
Danksi
+4
Level 43
Oct 12, 2021
Storm in a teacup i’ve heard
mrputter
+2
Level 82
Sep 9, 2022
According to Wikipedia, this is (as with many such things) dependent on where you come from:

“Tempest in a teapot (American English), or storm in a teacup (British English), is an idiom meaning a small event that has been exaggerated out of proportion.”

As a Canadian, I've certainly heard both, and they both “feel” roughly equally common in my personal experience. Take this for what it's worth, etc.

stillnotginger3003
+1
Level 20
Feb 16, 2012
i got the eight easiest ones
mal
+5
Level 62
Feb 16, 2012
I've only ever heard 'storm on a teacup' but still managed to get this one, only missed 'how do you like them..' never heard that before.

I'm sure I heard my parents use most of these when I was growing up and I, in turn, am passing them onto my kids!

mrputter
+2
Level 82
Sep 9, 2022
Someone needs to watch Good Will Hunting!

It's a great movie!

Nyneve922
+1
Level 41
Feb 16, 2012
Googling "tempest in a teapot" yields 403,000 hits. "Tempest in a teacup" yields 279,000. Personally I've heard the latter, but I've only ever used the former. It has a nicer alliteration anyway.
grantdon
+8
Level 73
Mar 21, 2019
And "Storm in a Teacup" yields 11 700 000 hits so it's fairly obvious which is the more common
divantilya
+1
Level 36
Feb 23, 2020
Any port in a storm.
TheGreatArturo
+1
Level 79
May 14, 2024
Apart from the word 'storm', what do they have in common?
HighFidelity
+6
Level 58
Feb 16, 2012
Would have liked "one ___ swoop" to see how many people thought it was "foul" :)
CBTemple
+1
Level 81
Feb 16, 2012
How is it possible to have a storm in a teacup? Does anyone remember the old percolators? Remember how the boiling water would rage inside the pot while the coffee or tea was percolating? That's where the "tempest" is --- in the teapot, not the cup.
Malbaby
+3
Level 70
Dec 4, 2014
You don't percolate TEA............ coffee yes, but TEA ......... NO
ruftytufty
+2
Level 79
Oct 18, 2019
The barbarians are at the gate
Danksi
+2
Level 43
Oct 12, 2021
i feel like idioms get lost in translation a lot anyway
RobNobody
+1
Level 78
Nov 25, 2022
The phrase has nothing to do with percolators, or even boiling water necessarily. The idea is that what someone is making out to be a major storm at sea with giant, crashing waves is in fact just a little bit of water sloshing around in a small space. "Tempest in a teapot" specifically dates back to the early 1800s, but similar phrases go back at least 2000 years, during which time it was variously used as "tempest in a ladle," "storm in a saucepan," and "tempest in a glass of water."
delky06
+1
Level 28
Feb 16, 2012
100%
Nyackjohn
+3
Level 79
Feb 17, 2012
Got them all, but had to guess at one: I'd never heard of the five fingered discount... and I'm from New York and I'm 49... sheesh, sounds like something I shoulda hewd a gazillion times, I'm just sayin...
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Feb 17, 2012
You must have had nice friends growing up!
twained
+1
Level 61
Dec 3, 2014
I'm with you. I got it but had never heard of the thing — it was more or less a guess. All the rest were extremely familiar.
cariad
+2
Level 42
Jun 4, 2015
What does the five finger discount mean- a good or poor discount? I've never heard of this.
Bobcat108
+2
Level 70
Aug 4, 2015
@cariad, it means to shoplift.
joeyo
+2
Level 24
Feb 18, 2012
Maybe all his friends only had four fingers.
oweifdhskxn
+2
Level 34
Jul 17, 2018
...most people only have four fingers on each hand...
MasterKenobi
+1
Level 61
Jun 3, 2024
There's always that one in every group...
Scanners
+4
Level 29
Feb 19, 2012
it's "take with a pinch of salt" not grain
yodasocko
+3
Level 45
Jun 6, 2013
I've always heard grain ot salt. Never pinch.
Nyneve922
+2
Level 41
Feb 23, 2012
No, Scanners, it's from a Latin text that used the phrase "grano salis", which is definitely a grain, not a pinch.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grain_of_salt

KatM
+3
Level 23
Mar 5, 2012
Lol. I kept thinking of "Too hot to hoot" because it's not an idiom, but a palindromic sentence....
smartcookie17
+1
Level 45
Dec 4, 2014
Nice!
MasterKenobi
+1
Level 61
Jun 3, 2024
Haha same. I even tried it just for kicks
jammy
+6
Level 21
Dec 1, 2012
These are not English, they are Americanisms!
buck1017
+6
Level 78
Jan 2, 2014
You are right...not English...they are clearly in Spanish.
fuanacdc
+4
Level 85
Dec 3, 2014
Mine read in Greek... weird
RobNobody
+2
Level 78
Nov 25, 2022
Quick, what's the primary language spoken in the US?
Shiloh376
+1
Level 76
Feb 23, 2013
Got all but one with lots of time to spare but could not get, and never heard of, faint praise. Otherwise they were way too commonplace, everyday, easy sayings.
courthousedoc
+1
Level 78
Mar 15, 2014
Geez, both of these were so easy. Got all of them with over 3 minutes left on both of them. Didn't even had to skip one and come back and think. I don't see how anyone could not know a single one of them. They were phrases I grew up with. Every single one of them. Guess it shows my age.
stone222
+4
Level 48
Oct 4, 2018
and nationality where the hell is Peoria anyway?? South Africa??
EcceHomo
+3
Level 81
Oct 23, 2020
This is why we don't know it in the UK. "Google the phrase “Will it play in Peoria?”, and you’ll get more than a million results. Dating to the vaudeville era—the early 1880s through the early 1930s—the popular saying has retained its meaning for over a century.

While no one can say for certain who coined the expression, it was comedian Groucho Marx who made it popular. In the vaudeville era, it was believed that if an act received good reviews in Peoria, it would do well nationwide."

RobNobody
+1
Level 78
Nov 25, 2022
Yeah, the idea was that touring productions (and, later, movies) wanted to do well with all audiences, not just those in big cities on the coasts (like, say, New York City), but also those in smaller cities and towns in, for instance, the Midwest.
cyninoregon
+4
Level 36
Dec 3, 2014
Why do people need to brag about answering all of them, time left, etc? Did you all have friends in school? I thought not. ;)
Tastymeatpie
+4
Level 84
Dec 3, 2014
I've always said a pinch rather than a grain of salt
nanook
+4
Level 51
Dec 6, 2014
These are American idioms, not English
EcceHomo
+1
Level 81
Oct 23, 2020
Most of them are universal, and a few are American English idioms. Is that a problem for people?
AlexThirkell
+3
Level 75
Jan 10, 2021
I think it was fine, a few variations on the British ones but easy to get. The only one I had absolutely no idea about was the Peoria one, but I got it by guessing pretty much every verb in the English language!
Malbaby
+4
Level 70
Jan 26, 2015
I suppose the quiz should be called English Language Idioms, a lot of these sayings originated in the UK and over time some of the sayings in the USA have changed slightly and also some have changed in the UK. Even throughout the UK sayings are slightly different and I'm sure in the USA it is the same. Here in Australia some of these sayings have changed to the USA variety and some have stayed the same as the UK. It's the same in New Zealand and Canada and South Africa for I have lived and worked in all of these countries and sayings like these differ all over the place.
CaoMaru
+5
Level 49
May 29, 2018
I agree. I assumed it was English Idioms because of the title, and didn't realize that it also included idioms from the rest of the English-Speaking world. So, yeah, English Language Idioms would be a better title.
parsons8
+2
Level 27
Mar 12, 2015
Never heard of five-finger discount or will it play in Peoria. I'm guessing the latter is a U.S. thing?
blizzrd33
+1
Level 80
Nov 1, 2022
Yup
lottoid
+1
Level 89
Dec 5, 2015
teaKETTLE
Findlay
+2
Level 82
Aug 30, 2016
Googling in inverted commas, "Tempest in a teapot" returns 250,000 results. "Storm in a teacup" returns 2,740,000 results. This suggests to me that, given the vast majority of English speakers are North American this is not just an Atlantic divide. I might also point out the Red Hot Chili Peppers - decidedly not an English band - have a song 'Storm in a Teacup'. I can also find the latter expression used in news media from the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and India as well as the UK.
ander217
+1
Level 75
Sep 10, 2016
Tempest in a teapot and storm in a teacup both originated in Great Britain, with tempest first seen in print in 1815, and storm first seen in print in 1838. Both were predated many years by storm in a hand-wash basin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempest_in_a_teapot
Sifhraven
+2
Level 71
Mar 21, 2019
In the netherlands we have: storm in a glass of water. Not sure if the origin is dutch or english (or another place altogether) i will have to do some digging.
Morpioniste
+2
Level 67
Nov 3, 2020
Storm in a teacup seems right to me, as that's what I heard all my life; tempest fun a teacup is OK, but the extra syllable kills it; the hand washing bowl thing is just awful to say and it's no surprise it was ousted by the others, despite claiming precedence
DonTheLamplighter
+2
Level 85
Sep 23, 2016
Got 'em all in one swell foop! :-)
pkerr116
+1
Level 73
Aug 1, 2017
so easy
Ajtias7
+1
Level 20
Jan 23, 2018
I've never heard "take with a grain of salt", only ever "take with a pinch of salt".

But great quiz

Thanks

markthoma
+2
Level 72
Apr 19, 2018
I swear, I've heard my Dad say every idiom in all these idiom quizzes hundreds of times. Some people just have a love for expressions.

I also enjoy idioms turned into malapropisms that I've encountered over the years.

For example, My Dad would always say "The $64 dollar question is..." (should be $64,000, like the game show), or , my personal favorite, "Half of one, six dozen of another" (should be six of one, half dozen of another) and I found it endearing.

Margles1
+2
Level 41
Mar 14, 2019
I never heard of a five finger discount before. I grew up in New Jersey. Where do people say this?
rtabram
+1
Level 59
Mar 15, 2019
I've heard it used all my life (in western Canada). I have no idea where it comes from.
interopia
+1
Level 85
Dec 27, 2020
Know it from the Simpsons
RobNobody
+1
Level 78
Nov 25, 2022
Of course, on The Simpsons it was a four finger discount.
Jayjaysciz
+1
Level 56
Jan 5, 2022
I've heard it numerous times and I'm on the east coast. Also I've definitely have seen the phrase used on tv/or in movies.
Sifhraven
+1
Level 71
Mar 22, 2019
Got 26 not bad! Funny/interesting/surprising to see that apparently I knew ones that some americans/english actually didnt know. How is that possible. (With difficult/obscure words i could get it, if people only speak with family/friends and i would read difficult material for instance, then it is about words you usually do not get in contact with) well i guess maybe if they never watch tv?

Like i ve heard how do you like them apples so often for instance

divantilya
+1
Level 36
Jun 6, 2019
Loved this quiz!
stupot
+1
Level 67
May 14, 2020
thought when it said english it meant english not any english speaking country. It's storm in a tea cup and as for more bang for the buck!! Other than that it's not a bad quiz
HowardK
+5
Level 16
May 25, 2020
You might get caught out in England trying to use a few of those!

- a tempest in a teapot - it's a storm in a teacup

- a grain of salt - it's a pinch of salt

- five finger discount - ?

- will it play in Preoria - ?

- how do you like them apples - ?

EcceHomo
+1
Level 81
Oct 23, 2020
I'm pretty sure Good Will Hunting features 'How do you like them apples?'
Morpioniste
+2
Level 67
Nov 3, 2020
and is set in the USA.
richiesyxx
+1
Level 72
Oct 19, 2020
Perhaps add another one for all those crying over tempest/storm, American/British etc: ‘No use ...... over spilt milk.’
interopia
+1
Level 85
Dec 27, 2020
Half of you knew "kid gloves"? Never heard of it!
Koopa
+1
Level 79
Apr 26, 2022
Well at least I'm not the only one who hasn't heard of the hardest four.
EllenElsie37
+2
Level 16
Aug 15, 2022
you should've added 'Bob's your uncle'
RobNobody
+1
Level 78
Nov 25, 2022
No, Bob was my father. Dave was my uncle.
Bengus
+1
Level 59
Jan 19, 2023
Take with a pinch of salt, not grain.
MasterKenobi
+1
Level 61
Jun 3, 2024
I've always heard it as grain my whole life.
MasterKenobi
+1
Level 61
Jun 3, 2024
Never heard of "damn with faint praise" so thanks for teaching me something new! Also, I've heard it my whole life from multiple people as "more bang for YOUR buck" and never "more bang for THE buck." I know it's a slight difference but now I'm wondering who says it that way.
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