Here's a good game for those boring car journeys when the kids are shouting "are we nearly there yet?"

One person thinks of an animal. The other person thinks of a saying or catchphrase associated with that animal.

Examples: a bull in a china shop; a bee in your bonnet; when the cat's away, the mice will play.

Whilst you are at it, think of those poor creatures that have not been assigned any saying (or, at least none that I can think of). Please email me at vernon@eeeee.co.uk if you can think of anything for a penguin or kangaroo, for instance.

Incidentally, where did some of those sayings come from? I can understand most of them, like: bird in the hand, bull in the china shop etc.

I can even see what the term "fly in the ointment" means. But where did it come from? Well, I have done some research and the most likely origin is from the bible. In Ecclesiastes 10:1 it states: "Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honor." I believe this means that it doesn't take a lot of foolishness to undo the work of a wise man.

What about "Waiter, there's a fly in my soup" - ok, not so much a saying as the start of many a cheesy joke. Here is another fly one (perhaps less well known): "No one sees a fly on a trotting horse." This is translated from the original Polish and means that the details are not so important when looking at the whole thing [in action]. Oh those flies! They are always associated with bad things: spoiling the ointment, annoying the horse, getting in the soup, not to mention being swallowed by old ladies!

Nobody cares too much for flies. They have a habit of ruining more than just ointment. They can ruin our food and give us a nasty bout of food poisoning.

So what solution is there? Well, I suggest that the china shop owner finds a red rag, the cat stays in for a while and we go and purchase an Insectocutor Fly Killer machine.