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Idioms for Problems

Fill the blanks in these idioms that relate to difficulty and failure.
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Featured Quiz
Last updated: January 27, 2018
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First submittedAugust 6, 2013
Times taken33,640
Average score66.7%
Rating4.28
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Idiom
A whole can of worms
Spiral out of control
Catch-22
An uphill battle
One's cross to bear
Go pear-shaped
Hung out to dry
Idiom
Stir up a hornet's nest
In over one's head
A spanner in the works
On a sticky wicket
In dire straits
A stumbling block
Between a rock and a hard place
Idiom
A millstone around one's neck
Grasping at straws
Twisting in the wind
The wheels have fallen off
Up a blind alley
One's goose is cooked
Go up in smoke
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67 Comments
lindudes
+5
Level 49
Aug 16, 2013
Fun and interesting quiz
cp0793
+8
Level 45
Sep 5, 2013
Could you also accept 'clutching' for the straw one and 'flames' for the one about smoke? thanks
bebn123
+2
Level 60
Nov 16, 2013
I agree with "flames".
Quizmaster
+2
Level ∞
Nov 16, 2013
Those will both work now.
GryffinClaw
+1
Level 40
Jan 27, 2018
I tried 'grabbing at straws'. Could you add that?
deathscythe002
+8
Level 60
Nov 16, 2013
"IN A STICKY SITUATION"
kalbahamut
+11
Level 81
Nov 16, 2013
I was up a ____ creek without a paddle for some of these.
sillie
+2
Level 77
May 29, 2014
That's the one I kept thinking of :)
Findlay
+1
Level 82
Aug 29, 2016
Definitely where my mind went.
Tramp
+1
Level 76
Jan 27, 2018
flooded
nettybet
+1
Level 75
Nov 16, 2013
Good quiz thanks
Jerry928
+1
Level 76
Aug 2, 2014
Agreed!
cranbeckh
+2
Level 68
Nov 16, 2013
Great quiz. But I never heard of Go pear-shaped. ???
Triviabuddy
+2
Level 57
Nov 16, 2013
Me either. Can someone explain that?
ThirdParty
+1
Level 45
Nov 16, 2013
Picture a gun barrel, or other circular object, which has melted slightly.
ChipOtley
+1
Level 74
Jan 27, 2018
To my mind is one's perfect hour-glass figure ultimately getting a bit wider around the middle, hence going pear-shaped
akbadry
+3
Level 51
Jan 27, 2018
It just means some object has lost its original shape or a situation has become awkward/out of control
obmeb
+3
Level 59
Jul 5, 2019
It is what happens to one's arse if one sits around for days plays quizzes - loses its umph and purpose.
Sifhraven
+1
Level 72
Oct 2, 2019
@chipotley, that would be appleshaped getting wider around the middle. Pearshaped would be bigger at thighs and hips, not waist (you know, shaped like a pear..) (still wouldnt make sense though, because your shoulders would also need to get smaller.) And pear shaped is usually seen as very feminine, as opposed to no bum and no hips . Pearshape is not a bad thing (just a bit lacking in the boob department, but not fat and without a waiste like appleshaped.) btw you can have hourshape figure aswell without having big boobs, when you simply have a big chest (ribcage) which guys usually don't prefer, they rather have more fragile/petite looking women than the ones that look stronger than them.

Back on subject, many theories about pearshaped, most are blindly copied without critically analyzing it. Either way it is about a shape that change form when that is not desired, from something circular or cylindrical, that started to bulge/sag. (pottery, gunbarrels, tanks, glassblowing, rivets)

MiltonStapler
+2
Level 55
Sep 2, 2020
Pear shaped comes from aerobatic training. During a loop de loop if the control is not perfect you get a smoke trail that resembles a pear more than a circle.
Salz
+3
Level 59
Nov 16, 2013
Could you accept "struggle" for "battle" please?
Anzi
+2
Level 69
Jan 27, 2018
+1

Uphill struggle is just as common. Please could you add?

https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/an+uphill+struggle

WanderingWalrus
+1
Level 79
Jan 27, 2018
+1
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Jan 27, 2018
Okay
maxd98
+11
Level 40
Nov 18, 2013
I tried "whoop-ass". Didn't work....
Zefyrinus
+1
Level 72
Apr 9, 2015
Go up in atoms?
Chickendragon
+5
Level 43
Sep 17, 2015
UP AND AT THEM!
sumguy
+1
Level 85
Apr 14, 2016
I had to think about spanner to remember that it's British for "a wrench in the works". No idea what a sticky wicket is, though. Does it have to do with cricket?
blinky
+1
Level 58
Jan 24, 2017
American would be more like "throw a monkey wrench in the works."
ander217
+1
Level 75
Jan 28, 2018
Or the John McClane version in Die Hard, "Monkey in the wrench."
vomitingdiamonds
+1
Level 81
Oct 24, 2020
Sticky wicket is a cricket term, yeah. In the past grass pitches in cricket used to be left uncovered. So when it rained overnight it meant the pitch got soft and sticky, and really difficult and sometimes dangerous to bat on. I remember almost getting my head taken off when batting on a sticky wicket to a normal good length ball. Now they cover pitches (in professional cricket at least).
smartoldlady
+2
Level 46
Jun 15, 2016
You forgot up a creek without a paddle
ander217
+1
Level 75
Jan 28, 2018
Also, on a slippery slope. Great quiz.
YantheMan
+3
Level 66
Nov 13, 2016
Fun fact: John Lennon wrote a book called "Spaniard in the works".
blinky
+1
Level 58
Jan 23, 2017
So THAT'S what that means!!!
EcceHomo
+1
Level 81
Jul 6, 2021
Light bulb moment there :)
Antofagasta
+1
Level 70
Jan 27, 2018
Could 'An Uphill Struggle' be accepted too?
stubart409
+1
Level 67
Jan 27, 2018
Maybe I'm overly pessimistic. I got them all with 2:46 to spare.
jm
+1
Level 85
Jan 27, 2018
"Go {belly} up" is another one I thought of, but I think some of you would then ask for a different, inappropriate, anatomical term.
POOCH
+2
Level 72
Aug 15, 2018
I had a very good friend who was a nurse in the Korean War and later a flight attendant. Her favorite express for when something went wrong was "it went tango uniform". Took me years to work up the courage to ask what it meant.
Antimatter
+1
Level 45
Oct 27, 2018
Hahaha love it! A favourite one of my north-east England grandma was, it’s taken the pip (also used if someone got angry for a trivial reason) :D
kalbahamut
+1
Level 81
May 21, 2019
Generally this term is used less when you've got a problem and more when you're dead.
Malbaby
+1
Level 70
Jan 29, 2018
Good quiz, all were quite common to me except "Twisting in the Wind'...... haven't heard that one before, I would be interested to hear where that is common.
Sifhraven
+1
Level 72
Oct 2, 2019
Easy enough to find out with acces to internet. It basicly means being left to dangle
EcceHomo
+1
Level 81
Jul 6, 2021
I had not heard of that one either, but all of the others were familiar.
jabegy
+1
Level 28
Jan 31, 2018
100% with 1.40 secs left
RKW
+3
Level 53
Apr 13, 2018
I have to say, unless someone has done exceptionally well in a quiz it's extremely dull to read other people's scores or completion times.
oweifdhskxn
+1
Level 34
Jun 26, 2018
...even when someone has done really well...methinks there is much 'guessing' going on, which is not the same as knowing the answers...IMO
Sifhraven
+1
Level 72
Oct 2, 2019
But they usually write it for themselves and not for others. On occasion I do it aswell (only twice per month at most and I do a few dozen quizzes per day (I wake up and play and faal asleep playing them haha) when I have surprised myself and got 100% on a quiz I didnt expect (wont do it with getting 100% on say the colors of the rainbow or days of the week etc exceptionally easy things, or say all the countries in europe which is a clear and finite list and easy to learn). That is just to express my pleasant surprise. (but yea many also do it to show off so perhaps do expect some sort of response)

But usually I read over them aswell. Especially if it just times without an interesting story. (like misreading it as something funny but then realising the mistake so getting them all in time in the last second)

Archer1212
+2
Level 63
Jul 31, 2018
i can only assume that "gone pear shaped," "a spanner in the works," and "on a sticky wicket" are all non-U.S. sayings? i'm American and i've never once heard any of those sayings. never. zero.
Twister11
+1
Level 18
Oct 27, 2018
no idea. Ive never heard of em either
divantilya
+1
Level 36
Feb 2, 2019
^ Nor have I.
Olober
+1
Level 57
Mar 17, 2019
Oh, how the tables have turned
kalbahamut
+1
Level 81
May 21, 2019
I've heard all of these before, though "spanner in the works" is obviously extra-American as Americans would say "wrench" not "spanner." Pretty sure I've heard "sticky wicket" in the US before but the other two I think are British expressions.
Sifhraven
+1
Level 72
Oct 2, 2019
pearshaped is definitely american aswell, used mainly in bussiness and I believe also in sports. Spanner is obviously an uk word, but I think the idiom is used aswell, not 100% though. And good chance you are right about sticky wicket, it's origins are clearly british, I have never heard of it though and can't really envision it being used in the us. (perhaps because of the obvious connection to cricket?)
Englishbub
+1
Level 67
Jan 13, 2020
Must be a British thing; I've heard of all of them.
PoetsCorner
+1
Level 86
Jan 20, 2023
I'm American and I've heard of all of them.
kogatora
+2
Level 93
Jan 6, 2019
i'm not sure how a goose being ready to eat is a problem. i'd say the goose is loose is a problem, but then I'd just be making stuff up
Sifhraven
+3
Level 72
Oct 2, 2019
It is a big problem when you are a goose !!
Sifhraven
+1
Level 72
Oct 2, 2019
It most likely comes from Jan Hus,(meaning goose) a Czech theologian and philosopher who became a church reformer, who was burned at the stake.
melbas
+1
Level 20
Mar 23, 2019
Hmm some of these I've never heard of. must be american...
KaPOW
+1
Level 32
Mar 25, 2019
I prefer my version 'ones goose is loose'
stylus
+1
Level 77
Jul 5, 2019
I can't be the only one who tried 'On a sticky bun' as a reference to Blackadder's "We're in the stickiest situation since Sticky the Stick Insect got stuck on a sticky bun", surely?
overtired
+1
Level 85
Jul 5, 2019
I thought of that too :)
Bletsch
+1
Level 68
May 15, 2022
Fun quiz! Never heard of the pear-shaped one. I tried L-shaped, X-shaped, pretzel-shaped, doughnut-shaped, and a few others, before throwing in the towel. The "spanner in the work" is a lovely turn of phrase, but the American "monkey-wrench in the machinery" is fun, too.
BeigeDragon
+1
Level 63
Aug 12, 2022
Does getting all of them right mean you are in these situations often enough not to be proud of it?

Lots of fun though!

FartMart
+1
Level 50
Dec 2, 2022
Huh...personally more familiar with "One's burden to bear" so I wonder if it's a derivative of it?
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