2025 Malaphor of the Year!!

It’s that time again and I know everyone has been anticipating this moment. It is 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)

2020 – You’re a one-horse pony (submitted by Bruce Ryan and Ron MacDonald)

2021 – The new President says he wants to turn over a new page (submitted by Frank King)

2022 – Backseat Quarterback (submitted by Chuck Hatsis)

2023 – His cards of lies are about to crumble (submitted by Mike Kovacs)

2024 – She was giving me the cold finger (submitted by Jim Weil)

Before I reveal the winner, I want to give a shout out to the runners-up:

#5 A thorn in my butt (December 2025 – submitted by Donna Doblick). This is a perfect congruent conflation.

#4 They waved the white towel (September 2025 – submitted by Mike Browning). Another perfect congruent conflation of “waving the white flag” and “throwing in the towel”, and since this one was uttered by a sports reporter on a football game, with all those white towels tucked in uniforms, it is a particularly nice mashup.

#3 Gimme a joke! (January 2025 – submitted by Mike Kovacs and Daniel). This conflation of “gimme a break!” and “what a joke!” came from the lips of Senator Markwayne Mullen (R-OK) during the Hegseth confirmation hearing.

#2 He was never the sharpest bulb (June 2025 – submitted by Peter H, Karl Robins, and Buzz McClain). This mental mixup came from President Trump, when he was referring to his predecessor President Joe Biden. ‘Nuff said.

But the winner this year is He’s shooting from the seat of his pants, submitted by Steve Messinger (April 2025). This beauty, uttered by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer when he was describing Trump’s reckless behavior, is a congruent conflation mixed with a ribald phrase and a visual that is hard to erase. 

Merry New Year everyone!