the answer is boiling?

[askxkti]

Hi,

A teacher gives students quizzes in a class, and one student answered and the answer was almost right but not a 100%.
Then the teacher said 'it's boiling' ( I don't know if I got that right) or something like that.
I think it's a kinda metaphor.. like water is cold means it's a totally wrong answer, water is warm means you're getting closer to an answer.. I guess.

Do you really use that kind of phrases a lot or is it just his (the teacher's) own way to say it?

 

[entangledbank]

Yes, hot and cold are used like that. (It's not about water.) If someone is looking for something in a room, as part of a game, the person who hid the object will say 'you're hot' when the other person is near it, and 'you're cold' when they're looking in completely the wrong place. Sometimes they might use variation on this: 'boiling' would mean very, very hot: it's probably "right under your nose" but you haven't seen it yet. As well as children's games, the hot and cold idea can also be used for answers to questions, as with your example.

 

[Chasint]

There is a children's game called Hunt the Thimble - one variation of this is called Hot and Cold.

In Hot or Cold, the hiders tell the searcher what temperature they are based on proximity to the hidden object—the closer they get, the hotter they are.
Hunt the Thimble - Wikipedia