He kept pushing my strings

Push or pull?  Buttons or strings?  Oh, the mind twists and turns in mysterious ways, particularly as one grows older.  I heard myself saying this one awhile back.  This is a confused conflation of “pushing his buttons” (knowing ways to make a person angry) and “pulling strings” (“to use influence to get something done”).    Of course, I am sure Pinocchio must have said this at some point to Geppetto.

Cover of Geppetto