Not out of the clear

Overheard in a conversation. The speaker was talking about her workload, and that it was not quite finished. This is a congruent conflation of “out of the woods” and “in the clear”, both used to describe clear of danger or difficulty. A big thanks to Katie Norwood for uttering this one and then realizing it was a malaphor.

Did you like this one? If so, check out my book “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors”, available on Amazon for a cheap $7.99! https://www.amazon.com/dp/0692652205. Or try my sequel, “Things Are Not Rosy-Dory: Malaphors from Politicians and Pundits”, also on Amazon. They both make great bathroom reads. “A malaphor a day keeps irregularity away!”