This is like the cart wagging the horse
Posted: August 3, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, words 1 CommentFrustrated by certain medications treating symptoms that exacerbate others, this malaphor was uttered. It’s a conflation of “putting the cart before the horse” (to do things in the wrong order) and “the tail is wagging the dog” (a situation where a small part is controlling the whole of something). Lots of tails and animals here. A shout out to Bruce Ryan for catching this one and sending it in.
The ball’s in their hands
Posted: July 18, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Charlie Kirk, Epstein files, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, Trump, words Leave a commentConservative activist and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk said Monday he is trusting the Trump administration to handle the files related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein:
“Honestly, I’m done talking about Epstein for the time being. I’m going to trust my friends in the administration, I’m going to trust my friends in the government to do what needs to be done, solve it, ball’s in their hands,” he continued.
This is a congruent conflation of “the ball’s in your court” and “in your hands”, both meaning under one’s control or in possession. Certainly you catch a ball with your hands so the mind sees “ball” and attaches that word to “hand”. in all likelihood. “Out of our hands” may also be in the mix, although the meaning is the complete opposite to what the speaker was trying to convey. Given the context, a Freudian slip?
Kudos to Mike Kovacs for spotting this one and sending it in!
You’ll burn yourself into the ground
Posted: July 16, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentA daughter was telling her Dad that she was so busy at work that she had to skip lunch and work extra hours. He advised her not to do that everyday or “you will burn yourself into the ground”. This is a congruent conflation of “burn (oneself) out” and “run (oneself) into the ground”, both meaning to make someone ineffective through overuse. “Burn to the ground” (to totally destroy something) might also be in the mental mix. A big thank you to John Kooser for sending this one in!
There’s other fish in the barrel
Posted: July 14, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, The Wire, words 1 CommentThis one was heard in episode 1, Season 3 of the best television series of all time, The Wire. Lieutenant Daniels is telling a disappointed Officer McNulty (who isn’t able to get the bad guy he really wants to get): “There’s other fish in the barrel.” Regarding whether this was intentional, since it was a serious scene, I’m going to rule that it was unintentional. This is a conflation of “other fish in the sea” (other excellent people, things, or possibilities in the world that one may find) and “like shooting fish in a barrel” (ridiculously easy). Props (Proposition Joe?) to Barry Eigen for hearing this one and sending it in.
Once in a blue while
Posted: July 11, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blended idioms, blue whale, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, words 1 CommentA store owner was talking about his staff sometimes missing things and he said, “every once in a blue while they forget to do something.” This is a conflation of “(every) once in a while” (occasionally or sometimes) and “once in a blue moon” (rarely or infrequently). Maybe the speaker was thinking of a “blue whale” when he said “blue”. Who knows? A big thanks to Katie Minnock for hearing this one and sending it in!
Leading the drum beat
Posted: July 9, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Chris Hayes, expressions, Frank King, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentThis one was heard on the podcast All In With Chris Hayes. You can hear it as the 40:14 mark:
It is a mashup of “beat the drum” (strongly advocate for) and “lead the charge” (to be one of the first to do something). A big thanks to frequent contributor Frank King, the Mental Health Comedian.
Tagphrase
Posted: July 7, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphors, WORD BLENDS, words 2 CommentsTwo brothers were talking about an old commercial, and one said “Oh yes, I remember that tagphrase.” This is a word blend congruent conflation of “catch phrase” and “tag line”, both referring to a sentence or phrase reiterated and identified with a person or company. Single word blend malaphors are unconscious blends of words to make an unintentional new word. The word sounds or looks correct at first blush, but then on closer examination is incorrect. Examples include “Buckminster Palace” (Buckingham and Westminster, and/or possibly Buckminster Fuller) and “split-minute decision” (split second and last minute). Read my book, “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors“, to understand the difference between a word blend malaphor and a portmanteau.
A big thanks to Martin Pietrucha for unintentionally uttering this one and promptly sending it in!
I need to get my blood rate up
Posted: July 2, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, words 1 CommentThe speaker and her husband were getting ready for their morning walk. She said, “We’ll have to walk fast so I can get my blood rate up.” This is a congruent conflation of “get my heart rate up” and “get my blood flowing”, both meaning to get active or start moving. A healthy hurrah to Beverly Rollins Sheingorn VanDerhei for saying this one and sending it in!
He let them take them over the coals
Posted: June 30, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, Fox, humor, language, malaphors, Maria Bartiromo, Trump, words Leave a commentTrump was being interviewed by Maria Bartiromo on Fox yesterday (June 29, 2025). She asked him about the tariffs on China and he responded that Biden had a trillion dollar deficit with China, adding that “he (Biden) let them (China) take them (U.S.) over the coals.” This is a mashup of “rake them over the coals” (call to task or reprimand severely) and “take them to the cleaners” (cheat one out of one’s money or possessions). “Rake” and “take” seem to have confused the speaker here. You can hear this at the :39 mark:
A shout out to Mike Kovacs for hearing this one and sending it in!
Talking to him goes in one ear and out of his ass
Posted: June 28, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words 1 CommentThe speaker was exasperated with an adversary in court. She told her husband, “Well, talking to him goes in one ear and out of his ass. It’s simply useless.” This is a mashup of “in one ear and out the other” (essentially ignored or forgotten almost immediately after being heard) and “talk out (of) (one’s) ass” (to talk nonsense or exaggerate one’s achievements). The speaker must have been thinking her adversary was an “ass” when she jumbled the two phrases. A shout out to Marykathryn Kopec for unintentionally uttering this one and sharing it with us! Paints an interesting picture.
Did you like this malaphor? Check out “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors” on Amazon! https://www.amazon.com/dp/0692652205
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