The chip did not fall far from the block

Joe Starkey, sportswriter in Pittsburgh, said this mashup on the radio station 93.7 The Fan. He was telling his producer how nice his father is. Joe realized the error and quickly corrected himself, making it an even better malaphor. It is a congruent conflation of “the apple does not fall far from the tree”, and “chip off the old block”, both expressions meaning to display traits or behaving the same way as their relatives (usually parents). A tip of the hat to Dan Simon for hearing this one and sending it in!