Right from the bat
Posted: May 23, 2013 Filed under: bat, THINGS | Tags: bat, blended idioms, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, off the bat, right from the start, words Leave a comment »
Logo used 1972-1992 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This congruent conflation mixes up “right from the start” and “right off the bat”, both meaning to do something immediately. A big thanks to Jake Holdcroft who heard this one spoken by a sportscaster during a Pittsburgh Penguins game intermission. See a similar malaphor – “right out of the bat” , posted October 27, 2012.
It’s locked in stone
Posted: May 20, 2013 Filed under: lock, stone | Tags: blended idioms, carved in stone, expressions, humor, language, lock, malaphors, mixed idioms, stone, words Leave a comment »This is a mash up of “locked in” and “written (or carved) in stone”, both meaning something permanent or not subject to change.
He really sold him under the bus
Posted: May 16, 2013 Filed under: bus, river | Tags: blended idioms, bus, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, river, sold him up the river, threw him under the bus, words Leave a comment »Have I found the new “master”? Actress Cristin Milioti said the following to People magazine:
“The other day I was chatting with my boyfriend,” she told Theater Mania, “and I said to him, ‘He really sold him under the bus.’ And he said, ‘I think you meant “threw him under the bus,” or “sold him up the river.” ‘ … It’s a constant problem. On my first date, my boyfriend asked me if I wanted to eat a la carte, and I said that I would prefer to stay inside! It’s really embarrassing.”
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20700130,00.html?xid=rss-fullcontent
Cristin, do NOT be embarrassed by this wonderful gift you have received. On the contrary, continue to utter your wonderful malaphors so I can share them with the world. “To err is human; to malaphor, divine.”
Look who’s calling the kettle black
Posted: May 13, 2013 Filed under: black, kettle | Tags: black, blended idioms, congruent conflation, expressions, humor, kettle, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, pot, talk, words Leave a comment »This is a congruent conflation of “look who’s talking” and “that’s the pot calling the kettle black”, both referring to pointing out hypocritical behavior. The best and most common malaphors are mixtures of phrases that have the same or similar meaning.
You’ve got a chip up your ass
Posted: May 9, 2013 Filed under: ass, chip, stick | Tags: blended idioms, chip, chip on your shoulder, expressions, malaphors, mixed idioms, stick, stick up your ass, words 1 Comment »I won’t reveal the source, but this is a mash up of “you’ve got a chip on your shoulder” (bad attitude) and “you’ve got a stick up your ass” (up tight). It also could describe the aftermath of gorging on a bag of Cape Cod potato chips in your underwear (never done that, just sayin’).
The guy’s a real slimebag
Posted: May 6, 2013 Filed under: WORD BLENDS | Tags: blended idioms, douchebag, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, scumbag, slimeball, word blend, words Leave a comment »This is a word blend malaphor of “slimeball” and “scumbag”, or possibly “douchebag”, all describing a not very nice person. Confusion is added by the similar sound ing words slime and scum, and bag and ball. Check out my category entitled “wordblends” for more word malaphors.
She has flown off the deep end
Posted: May 3, 2013 Filed under: deep end, fly | Tags: Amanda Bynes, blended idioms, fly off the handle, gone off the deep end, Huffington Post, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a comment »This malaphor was found by Bob Ferrante as he was reading the Huffington Post. It is a mash up of “gone off the deep end” and “fly off the handle”, both meaning to get extremely angry or crazy. The blended idiom comes from a discussion about the actress Amanda Bynes:
“In case we needed any further proof that Amanda Bynes has flown off the deep end, here’s her latest outlandish Twitter remark…”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/28/amanda-bynes-twitter_n_2970924.html
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