Random Mode Keyboard shortcut: Command/Ctrl + Shift + R
thumbnail

Animal Idioms Quiz #1

The missing words in these idioms are animals. Guess what they are.
Quiz by Quizmaster
Rate:
Last updated: February 10, 2017
You have not attempted this quiz yet.
First submittedJuly 20, 2012
Times taken38,489
Average score66.7%
Rating4.23
5:00
Enter missing word here:
0
 / 30 guessed
The quiz is paused. You have remaining.
Scoring
You scored / = %
This beats or equals % of test takers also scored 100%
The average score is
Your high score is
Your fastest time is
Keep scrolling down for answers and more stats ...
Meaning
Idiom
Fool's errand
Wild Goose Chase
Pool hustler
Pool Shark
Sham legal proceeding
Kangaroo Court
Majority
Lion's Share
Hottest part of the year
Dog Days
Dominant force that can do
as it pleases
800 lb. Gorilla
Possession that is
hard to maintain or get rid of
White Elephant
A lot of fun!
Barrel of Monkeys
Market for secondhand goods
Flea Market
Awesome!
The Cat's Pajamas
Awesome!
The Bee's Knees
Give a false alarm
Cry Wolf
The daily grind of long hours,
trying to get ahead
Rat Race
Roughhousing
Horseplay
Feign death
Play Possum
Meaning
Idiom
Business or investment
that produces a steady profit
Cash Cow
Save for later
Squirrel Away
Become silent
Clam Up
To overeat
Pig Out
Situated diagonally across an
intersection
Kitty Corner
Easy target
Sitting Duck
Frank business discussion
Talk Turkey
Period of increasing stock prices
Bull Market
The one who gets the blame
Scapegoat
Misleading clue
Red Herring
Police informer
Stool Pigeon
Final public performance
Swan Song
To admit that one was wrong
Eat Crow
Something that can create
serious problems
Can of Worms
UK Bachelorette party
Hen Party
+3
Level 26
Sep 25, 2012
It should be Opossum, not Possum!
+7
Level 69
Sep 25, 2012
You are correct that it is actually the opossum that plays dead, the phrase is still "Playing possum"
+1
Level 26
Sep 26, 2012
I always thought that possum wasn't a word...?
+1
Level 25
Sep 30, 2012
It's spelled "opossum" but the o isn't pronounced, so it should be opossum.
+1
Level 51
Mar 21, 2016
We had a possum in our house the other day. One of my dogs cornered it and it pretended to be dead.
+1
Level 45
Mar 24, 2016
No clue, I've heard all sorts of explanations of this. I've even heard they're 2 different species. I don't even know anymore.
+3
Level 72
May 27, 2016
I've seen both up close, they are fairly different. the ones I have seen here in Canada which are opossums I believe, look like overgrown rats with a worm like tail. The ones in australia sort of looked more like a raccoon crossed with a squirrel. they have furry tails and they look much cuter than the opossums.
+1
Level 68
Apr 29, 2017
In New Zealand, the only good possum is a dead possum.
+1
Level 75
May 9, 2018
Roadkill possum should be the Missouri state animal.
+1
Level 56
Apr 9, 2015
Would it not accept "opossum"? I always spell it with an O, but I was trying to save time, so I didn't type it this time.
+2
Level 66
Sep 5, 2019
Why would it? It wont accept otiger and odog or olion, because they arent in the saying....
+3
Level 75
Apr 29, 2017
I spell the word as 'possum. At some point the language police needs to give up and just drop the o at the beginning of the word since many people don't use it anyway, or at least make it an acceptable alternative. Even the Wikipedia article on opossums says, "also known as possums". I see no problem with adding Australian or North American before the word if someone needs to differentiate between the two animals. Just my two cents' worth.
+2
Level 82
Aug 2, 2017
I had a girlfriend who had a pet possum. Not a bad pet, but dumb as a stump.
+2
Level 75
May 9, 2018
We have two that eat our cat food if we forget to bring it in at night - we've named them George Jones and Tammy. (Country music fans will understand.)
+1
Level 22
Sep 25, 2012
good quiz!
+1
Level 55
Sep 25, 2012
Loved this one! Got them all with 3:24 left.
+2
Level 40
Sep 25, 2012
I never heard of a Hen Party. A Bachelor Party is a Stag Party though. Add that one.
+4
Level 26
Jul 10, 2013
Actually, it's Hen Party and a Stag Do.
+1
Level 75
Apr 29, 2017
My father referred to any gathering of females as a hen party, whether it was an Extension Club meeting, the Ladies Aid, or a Tupperware party. He usually meant it for older women, and I chuckled the first time I heard the phrase on British TV referring to a bachelorette party because in my mind I saw them as older women surrounding an old bride-to-be. Actually, I think that would be a fun party to see, but it's just another case of regional differences. I don't think hen party is used these days in the US - too politically incorrect, - but it was common when I was a girl in the '50s and '60s.
+1
Level 83
Oct 4, 2022
What’s an Extension Club?
+1
Level 81
Mar 28, 2023
I'm not 100% sure what ander was referring to, but my best guess is that it was something like this:

Arkansas Extension Homemakers Club.

Seems like a Home Ec + Volunteering + Leadership club for adult women.

+3
Level 76
Apr 30, 2017
I've always heard Hen Night for bachelorette party in the UK.
+2
Level 43
Sep 25, 2012
I have never heard "kitty" corner either. I have heard "catty" corner, which is also incorrect. The correct term is cater-corner.
+6
Level ∞
Sep 25, 2012
I am aware of "cater-corner". This is one of those cases where the corruption has entered the lexicon. In fact, ALMOST EVERY WORD in the English language is a corruption of something else. Like it or not, kitty corner is just as correct. Down with pedantry!

Don't know why this one got my dander up so much, haha

+2
Level 71
Jan 14, 2013
Terms like this enter the lexicon when they appear in mainstream dictionaries, and indeed, "kitty-corner" does. I certainly don't like it, but there it is.

How long before "For all intensive purposes" is a "legitimate" phrase? Woe unto us pedants!

+1
Level 39
Aug 14, 2013
'intensive purposes'???? aaaaiiiiiiiiieeeeeeee!!! I'm with you partdavid!!
+1
Level 77
Oct 29, 2013
For all intensive purposes, you are supposibly right.
+1
Level 84
Jun 26, 2014
Irregardless...
+1
Level 84
Jun 17, 2015
It'll be a mute point!
+1
Level 84
Sep 8, 2016
I could care less! :-P
+1
Level 76
Apr 30, 2017
I'm in agreeance with that.
+1
Level 66
Feb 10, 2020
Grate tread!
+1
Level 82
Apr 6, 2015
Then accept CATty as well.. why not?
+2
Level 41
Sep 26, 2012
I've never even heard "kitty corner", only "catty corner". I've seen it written as "cat-a-corner", but I've never heard "cater-corner" either. Here in the Philadelphia (PA, USA) region, we say "catty-corner".
+1
Level 26
Sep 26, 2012
In Ohio we say catty-corner as well.
+1
Level 25
Sep 30, 2012
And my mom who is from Georgia/California says it.
+1
Level 75
May 13, 2014
Ditto for Missouri.
+1
Level 35
Dec 26, 2012
19.
+1
Level 85
Nov 3, 2013
born in South Dakota USA and it was always "lets go to the house kitty corner from ours". never heard of cater corner.
+1
Level 66
Nov 2, 2014
I'm not familar with "hen party" as a phrase, but I got it with a lucky guess. Guess that one's not popular around Chicagoland.

Also, kitty corner is what I've heard, but this seems like one of those situations where all the other variants people are tossing out there should probably be acceptable.

+1
Level 57
Apr 6, 2015
Very good quiz.
+1
Level 82
Apr 6, 2015
Kitty corner?? I thought it was catty corner. The English language textbooks I've been using to teach directions seem to agree, too.
+1
Level 82
Apr 6, 2015
+1
Level 68
Apr 6, 2015
Here in BC, it's kitty corner.

But I've never heard of the 800 lb Gorilla idiom.

+1
Level 85
Apr 6, 2015
A stag and doe refers to a combined bachelor/ette party. I never heard of a stag do.
+1
Level 57
Apr 29, 2017
Super quiz. Can you find 20 or 30 more?
+1
Level 71
Apr 29, 2017
Good quiz, never heard of Kitty Corner, I have heard of something similar to Kitty when I lived in the US, like cater corner which I tried to no avail.
+2
Level 68
Apr 29, 2017
In NZ, never heard of kitty corner or eat crow. Got the rest though. Thanks for the quiz!
+1
Level 84
Apr 30, 2017
"Lose one's nerve: Chicken out". "Period of decreasing stock prices: Bear market". "Bachelor party: Stag night". "Urinate: Drain the lizard".
+1
Level 75
May 9, 2018
More possibilities for a second quiz - dog-eared, cat's paw, lion-hearted, pig headed, cardinal rule, catbird seat, get ones goat, sacrificial lamb, bats in the belfry, crazy as a loon, horse trader, lemmings to the sea, fish out of water, the cat's meow, for a lark, crow's feet...
+2
Level 55
Sep 26, 2019
Just to put my word in, I have never heard of kitty corner! not in UK for sure. Cater corner please.
+1
Level 39
May 10, 2020
We always said kitty corner and never catty corner. I grew up in Wisconsin.
+1
Level 70
Jun 6, 2021
Kitty corner new to me as well.
+1
Level 78
Jul 7, 2021
Kitty corner (and any other variant) is new to me. Always happy to learn new phrases.
+1
Level 67
May 4, 2022
I know the term horseplay but not roughhousing
+1
Level 76
Oct 13, 2022
I'd pony up for this quiz.
+1
Level 73
Mar 21, 2023
I was cruising through the questions until the last one. I ended up at 29/30, thanks for the quiz!