2020 Malaphor of the Year!!

The countdown is over. It’s now time to reveal this year’s Malaphor of the Year.  But before I unveil this masterpiece, here are the winners of past years:

2015 – I have a pulse to the ground (submitted by Paula Garrety)

2016 – Let’s give them a round of hand! (submitted by Martin Pietrucha)

2017 – Welcome to my shoes (submitted by Steve Kovacs)

2018 – Whatever turns your boat (submitted by John Kooser)

2019 – My old car shit the bucket (submitted by John Fischer)

This year’s winner made national news and was uttered by President-elect Joe Biden, so I am hoping we have barely scratched the tip of the iceberg on malaphors coming from him. This one was submitted by Bruce Ryan in December. Drum roll, please……..

You’re a one-horse pony

Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked President-elect a question : “Mr. President-elect, do you still think that stories about your son Hunter were Russian disinformation?” Biden responded, “Yes, yes and yes. God love you, man. You’re a one-horse pony, I tell ya.”

This is a great mashup of “one-trick pony” (someone who is limited to one talent or repeats the same thing) and “one-horse town” (small, unimportant place). Both have the word “one” in them and of course are tied with the equestrian theme. Since this was uttered just a few days before Christmas, the song “Jingle Bells” and “a one-horse open sleigh” might have been on the President-elect’s mind. Bruce Ryan spotted this one first, but also kudos to Ron MacDonald, nutshell_blogger, Robert McLaughlin (via Steve Grieme) and Fred Martin for also sending it in. Happy New Year!

2020 Malaphor of the Year – Number 2

It’s no sweat off my nose (submitted October 2020)

This is one that I think anyone might be guilty of saying as it is a near perfect mashup. A small business owner decided to stop selling biscotti because a new coffee shop down the street started selling them. It was not a big deal to her, and she uttered this great malaphor. It is a congruent conflation of “no skin off my nose/back” and “no sweat”, both meaning not a problem or concern. A big thanks to Vicki Ameel Kovacs for uttering this beauty and Mike Kovacs for sending it in. The picture below was suggested by Mike.

2020 Malaphor of the Year – Number 3

There are people falling behind the crack (submitted September 2020)

This one makes the top 6 just because of the visual. Jeannie Blaylock, a TV news anchor in Jacksonville, Fl, uttered this one when she was discussing the financial strain of COVID.   It is a congruent conflation of people “falling through the cracks” and “falling behind”, both meaning those who are not helped by the system which is supposed to deal with them.  “Falling” is the common word here, and is the cause of the mashup.  Lou Pugliese caught this one, and it is the #3 malaphor of the year for 2020.

2020 Malaphor of the Year – Number 4

Breadearner (submitted May 2020)

Because this is a near perfect congruent word blend conflation, I chose this as Number 4 in the countdown.   It is a word blend malaphor of “breadwinner” (a person who earns money to support a family) and “wage earner” (a person who works for a salary).  My wife said this one when discussing a spouse who was earning most of the money in the household.

Word blends are a special subsection of malaphors and I have posted many of them.  Just type word blend in the Search feature on the website.  Also, I have a chapter devoted to these special malaphors in my book, “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors”, available on Amazon for cheap!

2020 Malaphor of the Year – Number 5

Shoot from the shoulder – submitted September 2020

Number 5 in the countdown came from the mouth of Joe Biden. At his town hall he said:

“You’ve got to level with the American people — shoot from the shoulder. There’s not been a time they’ve not been able to step up. The president should step down,” the Democratic presidential nominee said to applause from a CNN drive-in town hall crowd Thursday night in Moosic, outside his hometown of Scranton.

https://apnews.com/ea71e7560724e2e5d46f224867ac4ebf

This is an excellent example of an incongruent conflation (unintentional blend of two or more idioms with opposite meanings). “Straight from the shoulder” (simple, direct, and forthright) is what the speaker meant to say, and this was mixed with  “shoot from the hip” (to speak rashly or recklessly).  Several people reported this one, including Bruce Ryan, Pamela Pankey, John Pekich, and Kathy Meinhardt.

2020 Malaphor of the Year – Number 6

2020 has been an unusual year, but the Malaphor of the Year countdown tradition continues.  This year has been a great one for idiom mashups. In the past, I have narrowed the nominations down to five, but this year the competition was so stiff that I added a sixth nomination.  So without further ado (drum roll please), let the countdown begin with Number 6:

Trump’s going to eat him apart (submitted May 2020)

As you can imagine, the election was fertile ground for malaphors. This one involved two people talking about the upcoming 2020 presidential debates between Trump and Joe Biden. One person said of Trump: “Trump’s going to eat him apart….”  This is a nice congruent conflation of “eat him alive” and “tear him apart”, both meaning to overwhelm and defeat or dominate another.  “Eat his lunch” might also be in the mix, as it has the same meaning as the conflated idioms.  My guess is that Biden might be a little tough to chew.  A big thank you to Verbatim for sending Number 6 in!