He had his head between his legs
Posted: November 5, 2012 Filed under: BODY PARTS | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, heads or tails, malaphors, mixed idioms, tail between his legs, words 4 CommentsWhen I heard this one, naturally I did a double take. The speaker meant to say “tail between his legs” (embarrassed from a loss) but apparently got the wrong part of the anatomy. He may have been thinking “heads or tails” or perhaps “head over heels” (excited), but my guess is that he was thinking “head up his ass” (conceited) considering who he was referring to. Nuff said.
Malaphors 
Dave, keep them coming. Every one brings a smile to my face. I was wondering if “burying his head in the sand” had a part in this malaphor? Lise
Thanks Lise!! Yes, I think you are right. Many of these malaphors are mixtures of several idioms, and/or words and flotsam floating in the brain. Unless the speaker is asked, we can only conjecture why and how the malaphor was formed.
Good one Bob!
Sounds like some of the management folks at a national agency – near and dear to my wallet.