Some proverbs/idioms are given below together with their meanings. Choose the correct meaning of proverb/idiom, If there is no correct meaning given, E (i.e.) 'None of these' will be the answer.
To drive home
Answer: D
It means to emphasise.
To drive something home is to make a point so forcibly that it cannot be missed - the image is of hammering a nail all the way in.
Please log in or register to report this question.
To have an axe to grind
Answer: A
It means a private end to serve.
To have an axe to grind is to have a selfish motive behind an apparently disinterested act, from Franklin's story of the man who flattered a boy into turning the grindstone for him.
Please log in or register to report this question.
To cry wolf
Answer: B
It means to give a false alarm.
From Aesop's shepherd boy who called wolf for amusement until, when the wolf came, nobody believed him.
Please log in or register to report this question.
To end in smoke
Answer: B
It means to ruin oneself.
To end in smoke is to come to nothing, all the substance having gone up in vapour.
Please log in or register to report this question.
To pick holes
Answer: C
It means to criticise someone.
To pick holes is to find fault, as one picks at a fabric until it gives way.
Please log in or register to report this question.
To leave someone in the lurch
Answer: D
It means to desert someone in his difficulties.
The lurch is a losing position in the old game of lourche, so to leave someone in it is to abandon him when he most needs help.
Please log in or register to report this question.
To play second fiddle
Answer: C
It means to support the role and view of another person.
The second fiddle plays a supporting part to the first violin, so to play it is to take the subordinate place.
Please log in or register to report this question.
To beg the question
Answer: B
It means to take for granted.
To beg the question is to assume the very point that is in dispute - a translation of the Latin petitio principii. It does not mean to raise a question, though it is now often used so.
Please log in or register to report this question.
A black sheep
Answer: E
None of these.
A black sheep is a disreputable member of a family or group - the one lamb in a white flock whose fleece could not be dyed. None of the four descriptions offered says that.
Please log in or register to report this question.
A man of straw
Answer: A
It means a man of no substance.
A man of straw is a person of no worth or standing, or a figure set up merely to be knocked down - the same image as a straw man in argument.
Please log in or register to report this question.
