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Idioms about Household Items

The blanks in these idioms are things that you would find around the house. Guess what they are.
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: March 21, 2016
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First submittedAugust 6, 2013
Times taken33,352
Average score80.0%
Rating4.31
3:00
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Idiom
Pot calling the kettle black
Roll out the red carpet
Hand that rocks the cradle
Out of the frying pan, into the fire
Sweep under the rug
Born with a silver spoon in one's mouth
Lay one's cards on the table
Tempest in a teapot
See the writing on the wall
A foot in the door
Idiom
A watched pot never boils
Everything but the kitchen sink
A drop in the bucket
Caught with one's hand in the cookie jar
Throw in the towel
Put all one's eggs in one basket
A flash in the pan
Have a bun in the oven
A skeleton in the closet
Can't hold a candle to
+6
Level 83
Oct 11, 2013
Unfortunately, there are no 'cookie jars' in UK households.
+2
Level 77
Oct 11, 2013
I know you call cookies "biscuits." What do you call their containers? Biscuit bins?
+6
Level 82
Mar 21, 2016
If you use your barrels to store cookies, then where do you keep all your fish and monkeys?
+9
Level 57
Aug 9, 2019
Cookies are called cookies and are a type of biscuit. Americans simply refer to all biscuits as cookies. Biscuits are kept in biscuit tins
+4
Level 22
May 21, 2022
Here in England, we have BOTH biscuits and cookies. Cookies are a certain type of biscuit. Also, everyone I know keep their biscuits in the kitchen cupboard, although I have heard of biscuit tins.
+2
Level 68
Sep 24, 2022
Biscuits are kept in airtight tins after the packet has been opened.
+2
Level 82
Dec 13, 2022
Or after you have baked them yourself :)
+8
Level 89
Oct 12, 2013
I learn so much about our "two countries divided by a common language" from the comments on this site!
+7
Level 53
Mar 20, 2016
I tried biscuit tin, jar, then gave up, can't get myself round the concept of a jar just for cookies. Where do I keep the gingernuts and digestives?
+2
Level 70
Mar 20, 2016
In the cookie jar. Because they are both cookies.
+6
Level 83
Jul 23, 2016
^In Britain they're biscuits.
+1
Level 69
Jan 3, 2023
In South Africa too. A "cookie" is what Americans would call a "cupcake".
+2
Level 56
Jun 5, 2018
If you're taking a quiz that was obviously created by an American, remember: Biscuits are cookies, chips are fries and people are people so why should it be you and I should get along so awfully...
+2
Level 78
Dec 15, 2021
...full of grace.
+2
Level 66
Jan 2, 2023
I've never even met you so what could I have done?
+1
Level 85
Apr 17, 2014
pretty easy but still fun. got 100% with 1:09 left.
+8
Level 59
Mar 20, 2016
A skeleton in the cupboard should be accepted please.
+5
Level 71
Mar 21, 2016
I tried 'Cupboard' never heard of the closet one.
+4
Level 86
Feb 17, 2017
Agreed, that's what I've been taught. Closet is American and cupboard is British.
+1
Level 65
Oct 1, 2019
So when you are coming out (telling people you are gay) you are coming out of the cupboard?

Often I know both the american and the english version of things, but in this case I have never heard the uk version. And it is not like it is an extremely uncommon phrase. So it baffles me you have never heard the us version.

+1
Level 80
May 11, 2022
They're two different idioms. In the UK the more common sayings by far for those two idioms would be 'coming out of the closet' and 'skeleton in the cupboard' which I think should be an acceptable answer.
+2
Level 66
Jan 2, 2023
A closet and a cupboard are different things in the UK. A closet is sort of like a wardrobe. A cupboard is where you store your... well... cups, obviously.
+1
Level 68
Jan 2, 2023
Yes, cupboards (or more often cabinets) are also where cups/dishes are kept in the US. So that’s where one would hide a skeleton? Not in a storage closet/wardrobe?
+1
Level 62
May 24, 2023
Large storage areas are also called cupboards. It's common in two-storey houses to have a 'cupboard under the stairs', such as where Harry Potter slept.
+1
Level 67
Jan 8, 2023
Boy, you must have large cupboards over there in Britain if you can fit a skeleton in them. I could fit a mouse or cat skeleton in mine, but even my dog's skeleton wouldn't fit in my cupboard... let alone a human.
+4
Level 69
Mar 22, 2016
Only ever seen it as "A watched kettle", hmm... also never heard of drop in the bucket (only ocean), and mostly hear "hold a match to". Not sure if these are all typeins yet, would be good. Anyway, for "flash in the pan", it refers to the pan of a gun; a little pan at the back of the gun would have some powder poured in it, and this would ignite the charge in the barrel. Not the pan usually in a household.
+3
Level 69
Mar 23, 2016
I couldn't stop thinking of a foot in the grave, despite my household not having any graves... Ha ha. Lightbulb went off with 21 seconds to go, thankfully.
+2
Level 69
Jun 20, 2016
At first, the only place I could think of to put a foot was a mouth.
+6
Level 78
Apr 2, 2016
In the UK our skeletons live in cupboards, not closets.
+2
Level 68
Jan 3, 2023
You have live skeletons?
+1
Level 67
Jan 8, 2023
LOL
+1
Level 84
Jun 12, 2017
The phrase "a drop from a bucket" has been around for many centuries.
+11
Level 80
Oct 2, 2020
Not in the UK, always "drop in the ocean", which wouldn't fit the quiz!
+1
Level 60
Mar 10, 2018
biscuit tin instead of cookie jar?
+1
Level 37
Mar 18, 2018
Great idea for a quiz. Thank you!
+9
Level 55
Nov 10, 2018
I am British and would say a 'skeleton in the cupboard'. also 'a drop in the ocean', I have never heard the alternative
+2
Level 68
May 29, 2021
Tried ‘biscuit barrel’, ‘biscuit jar’ and ‘biscuit tin’.

None worked?

+1
Level 69
Oct 26, 2021
What does drop in the bucket mean?
+3
Level 76
Jan 2, 2023
It means something that only makes a tiny bit of a difference, like putting a single drop of water into a bucket you need to fill. Like, if you are $100,000 in debt and you're able to pay off $20, you'd say it's just a drop in the bucket.
+2
Level 62
Mar 3, 2022
I suppose the phrase "a flash in the pan" could refer to a household item, if you have a flintlock musket in your house. The "pan" in this idiom is the pan of a flintlock, where a small amount of gunpowder would be placed and ignited by the falling flint, in turn igniting the main gunpowder charge through a small hole in the side of the barrel. On occasion, the charge in the pan would fail to ignite the main charge, hence a flash in the pan. This failure to fire could be deadly for the shooter in a wartime situation or if facing down an angry animal.
+7
Level 63
Jan 2, 2023
A drop in the ocean should be accepted as an alternative to bucket, it's common enough for the idiom to be featured in most of the major online dictionaries.
+4
Level 55
Jan 2, 2023
But unless you’re a lighthouse keeper, “ocean” isn’t really a “household item”.
+1
Level 66
Jan 2, 2023
Wait is that what "a drop in the bucket" means? It's the same as the ocean one?? It seems so quaint!
+1
Level 46
Jan 2, 2023
I have never heard of the silver spoon one yet it's the second most-guessed one at the time of commenting. Can't fathom what it could mean either it just sounds like total nonsense.
+2
Level 68
Jan 2, 2023
Saying that a person is very privileged. Their family was so rich that they feel babies with spoons made of silver.
+1
Level 79
Jan 2, 2023
I only missed 'a drop in the ____'!
+1
Level 69
Jan 3, 2023
Great quiz. Could we accept "carpet" for rug please? In South Africa that is the expression. Thanks
+1
Level 60
Jan 10, 2023
In Britain we sweep under the carpet too, not rug.
+1
Level 53
Dec 6, 2023
I agree. Carpet should be in the type-ins
+2
Level 61
Jan 3, 2023
In the UK a more common expression would be 'hand in the till' (what you probably call a cash register!)

Similarly I have never heard 'a drop in the bucket' but have heard 'a drop in the ocean'.

If you are only going to accept US idioms as correct, perhaps make that clear in the intro?

+1
Level 53
Dec 6, 2023
I totally agree. Should be put in type-ins in both versions once comments received, otherwise what's the point of comments?
+1
Level 65
Mar 13, 2023
I don't think "flash in the pan" refers to a pan that you use in the kitchen. It's origin has to do with the use of flintlock muskets. The "pan" refers to the place where the gunpowder was put.
+1
Level 75
Oct 16, 2023
Every time I hear or read expression #6 I am reminded about Ann Richards comment about George H.W. Bush: "Poor George, he can't help it — he was born with a silver foot in his mouth."
+1
Level 53
Dec 6, 2023
should have been a drop in the ocean. Never heard of a drop in a bucket