At the drop of a whim
Posted: July 25, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: at the drop of a hat, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, on a whim, words 1 CommentThis beauty was heard on TMZ. It is a mash up of “at the drop of a hat” (doing something immediately) and “on a whim” (impulse). Both expressions indicate doing something quickly without thinking, making it a congruent conflation. Both expressions begin with prepositions indicating location, adding to the confusion. Perhaps the thinker was also thinking of the brim (rhyming with whim) of a hat. A big thanks to Vicki Kovacs for hearing this one and passing it on!
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Hey, I just got a movie one: “Keep your mouth down” a combo of keep your mouth shut and keep it down. From a recent classic called “The “Watch.” Here’s the context (heroes talking to the skeptical police:
There’s aliens in the store.
Oh yeah? Aliens. Where?
It was right over there until you scared it. Now keep your mouth down.