That was a pretty good trick that she pulled out of her sleeve

This is another malaphor brought to you by the show Seven Little Johnstons. The mom was talking this time.  It is a nice mash up of “trick up her sleeve” (secret advantage) and “pull a rabbit out of her hat” (to do something surprising or seemingly impossible).  Both idioms concern the element of surprise, and both involve tricks or magic. Also in the mix is the R rated “pulled it out of her ass”, also meaning to something surprising or seemingly impossible. This one is similar to a previous post: “she needs to pull a trick out of her hat”, spoken at the Winter Olympics. See https://malaphors.com/2018/02/22/she-needs-to-pull-a-trick-out-of-her-hat/

A big thanks to Mike Kovacs for spotting this one and sending it in. And here’s the clip: