I could eat a horse VERSUS I could eat a mountain

[Semaka]

English Language Tests, Intermediate level

ESL/EFL Test #208 "What Comes Next? (2)", question 2

I don't know about you but I'm so hungry ..........

(a) I could eat a mountain
(b) I could eat the table
(c) I could eat a cow
(d) I could eat a horse

English Language Tests, Intermediate level

ESL/EFL Test #208 "What Comes Next? (2)", answer 2

I don't know about you but I'm so hungry I could eat a horse.

Correct answer: (d) I could eat a horse

Your answer was: incorrect
I don't know about you but I'm so hungry I could eat a mountain.
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why horse?

Semaka

[Mister Micawber]

.
No good reason, except that the phrase is an idiom. I suppose it may have been 'chosen' because the animal is well known, easy to pronounce, large, and seldom eaten. Also, hungry and horse are alliterative-- that is a common characteristic of set phrases.
.
_________________
Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mister Micawber