1. From Winston Churchill's famous speech to the House of Commons in 1940 when British morale was at its lowest point after the failure at Dunkirk. He spoke with brutal honesty when he said, "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."
2. From the John Dunne poem of 1611 in which he spoke of the travails and glories of love,
"It is with thy tears, or sweat or blood
Nothing is worth our travail, grief, or perishing
But those rich joys which did possess her heart.
3. Attributed to Queen Elizabeth I who publicly professed herself a "woman wanting both wit and memory," in keeping with the chauvinist sentiment at the time, but she also privately wrote, "this crown only stays on my head with blood, sweat and tears," referring to the constant palace intriques.
4. From the Bible, Book of Job, God tests the faith of the righteous man Job, by destroying Job's property, killing off his family and then afflicting him with loathesome sores. Job exclaims, " And yet I will persevere through these blood, sweat, toil and tears."
Click here for answer
Deep Six (to bury, or be dead)
1. A grave commonly measures 3 feet wide by six feet deep.
2. The six refers to the sixth level of sleep, the deepest level.
3. In the original game of high stakes billards the six ball was the death ball, and if you sank the ball on the first shot, the opponent had the choice to kill you.
4. Deep six was a nautical expression referring to the depth of shallow water; deep six referred to a depth of sixth fathoms. Something buried at a depth of deep six would likely remain submerged even a low tide.
Click here for answer
Seventh Heaven
1. Freetown is located at a longitude of 7 east and latitude 7 south. Seventh heaven was thus an expression of abolitionists who operated the underground railroad bringing southern slaves to freedom.
2. In the billiard game of "seventh heaven," if the seven ball was sunk on the opening shot, the player won double the prize money.
3. In the Islam religion, the seventh heaven was the heaven of heavens, the abode of god and the highest angels. Those who sacrificed their life for their faith gained immediate access to the seventh heaven.
4. In the Buddhist religion, one had to pass through seven stages of grace, each marked by an increasingly difficult test of faith and perseverance to reach the portal of heaven.
Click here for answer
Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
1. From the Aesop fable of the same name in which a wolf gained admission to a flock of sheep by draping himself with a sheep skin.
2. From the Bible, Matthew 7:15, where Jesus says "Beware of false prophetes, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."
3. From the Shakespeare play, "A Comedy of Errors," in which the entire plot turns on far fetched mistaken identities. In one scene the suitor Dromio, originally disguised as a wolf, further disquises himself as a sheep.
4. The original expression is "Wool is Sheep's Clothing," the slogan of early woolmakers. However, woolmakers tried to produce cheaper wool by mixing in inferior fibers from slaughtered animals, leading to the expression a "wolf in sheep's clothing.
