Put the metal on the gas
Posted: February 22, 2014 Filed under: pedal | Tags: blended idioms, congruent conflation, expressions, gas, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, pedal, pedal to the metal, step on the gas, words 2 CommentsThis is a congruent conflation of “put the pedal to the metal” and “step on the gas”, both meaning to speed up. I heard this one on a tv sports show uttered by Wally Szczerbiak. He was discussing at halftime that the team behind needed to step it up.
Malaphors 
Sam Edelmann suggested I send you these two which came from the same person:
1. In describing his knee problem he said he didn’t know if he hurt the cartridge or the liniment.
2. Reporting on a diagnostic test he had for a digestion problem he said he had to take the bare enemy test.
Howie,
These are great but are really malaprops (use of the wrong word) and not malaphors (unintentional blended idioms).
Dave