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They’re not holding any punches

Posted: July 29, 2019 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , |Leave a comment

Ayman Mohyeldin on MSNBC uttered this one when he was talking about Trey Gowdy and Republicans criticizing Democrats and Mueller’s testimony.  It is a congruent conflation of “not holding back” and “not pulling any punches”, both meaning to act without restraint or limitations.  The congruent conflation to me is the purest form of a malaphor.  The speaker is thinking of the correct idiom but there are other idioms that mean the same thing swirling in the brain.  A big thanks to Frank King for hearing this subtle but classic malaphor. @AymanM

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