Defense has been a thorn in the Seahawks’ heel today

This one was uttered by Steve Raible, the Seattle Seahawks’ radio play by play announcer. He said this after the Rams had scored a field goal in the fourth quarter. This is a mashup of “a thorn in the side” (a constant or persistent source of annoyance) and “Achilles heel” (a weakness or vulnerable point). The mixture creates a nice expression describing a constant weakness. Thorns are apparently everywhere in the malaphor world, as I have posted previously “he’s definitely a thorn in the eye” (January 2022) and “it’s a thorn in the foot” (March 2013). https://malaphors.com/2022/01/22/hes-definitely-a-thorn-in-their-eye/ https://malaphors.com/2013/03/21/its-a-thorn-in-the-foot/

A big thank you to Lin Sewell for hearing this one and sending it in!