Blank in the Blank Word Game

You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it.

I’m Martha Barnette.

And I’m Grant Barrett, and we’re joined once again by that mysterious figure, our quiz guy, John Chaneski.

Hi, Grant and Martha. I should take this mask off and not be so mysterious.

Thank you.

Just go right ahead. There you go. Hi. Oh, it’s nicer in here with the mask off.

It was him all along.

It’s me.

That’s right. Dun, dun, dun.

Today’s quiz takes the form of phrases that fit a pattern. Now, we’ve done these before, blank and blank, or blank of the blank. Now, today’s is blank in the blank.

Okay.

All right.

For example, if I asked you to name the Violent Femmes song featured in the movie Gross Point Blank that features the line, Big Hands, I Know You’re the One, you’d say…

Something in the sun.

It’s blister in the sun.

Yes.

Very good.

All right.

That’s just our example.

So let’s find out what’s inside, what’s in.

Here we go.

Pop Goes the Weasel is probably the most common tune used in what classic toddler’s toy that shares its name with a fast food chain?

Jack in the Box.

Jack in the Box, yes.

What phrase describes a person who possesses an object or an office they have no ability to use, something they have no need of, something that would be of great value to somebody better qualified to use it?

Dog in the Manger?

Yes, exactly. Dog in the Manger.

Nicely done, Martha.

Similarly, what phrase is used to mean a minor irritation that spoils the success or enjoyment of something?

Fly in the ointment.

Yes, fly in the ointment.

It might inspire you to place a screen around your liniment, as it were.

Now, there are two different recipes by this name. The English version consists of sausages and Yorkshire pudding batter with onion gravy and vegetables. The American version consists of an egg fried inside a slice of bread.

Toad in the hole.

Toad in the hole is right.

Most Major League Baseball teams and many Minor League ones schedule games where four-legged friends are welcome to attend. They are known as Doggy Days or by what rhyming name?

Blank in the blank.

Bark in the park?

Yes, Bark in the Park.

Yeah, I’m hoping to bring our dog Goldie to the Brooklyn Cyclones Bark in the Park this year.

On a lighter note, the video for what 1984 rock song features the singer-songwriter inviting a young Courtney Cox out of a concert audience to cut a rug with him on stage?

Dancing in the Streets?

No.

No, it’s a Martha and Vandellas or Bowie and Jagger song. But no, it’s a Springsteen song.

Oh, it is?

You get the first part right.

Dancing in the Dark.

Yes, Dancing in the Dark.

There we go.

What phrase, meaning a person or thing whose value is hidden, is used to describe Aladdin several times in the Disney movie and is the title of a song in the Broadway musical Aladdin?

Diamond in the Rough.

Diamond in the Rough, yes.

Nine in pieces of coal.

What delicious phrase describes something that is pleasant to contemplate but unlikely to be achieved?

Pie in the sky.

That’s right.

In 2006, England’s Barclays Bank trademarked what phrase to mean an automated teller machine, which apparently didn’t catch on because most people still use it to mean a small, modest, or obscure place, like an inexpensive cafe or restaurant.

Hole in the wall?

Yes.

Really?

Yes, Barclays trademarked hole in the wall.

Oh, you’re kidding.

To mean an ATM.

All right, that’s the quiz.

I’m going to get back in the saddle myself and ride off.

You guys are fantastic.

Back in the saddle again.

Thanks, John.

Thank you, Grant.

Thanks, Martha.

Take care.

We talk about all aspects of language on this show, so call us with your stories.

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