I’ve got better fish to fry
Posted: August 2, 2013 Filed under: fish, fry | Tags: Batman Returns, better things to do, bigger fish to fry, blended idioms, Catwoman, Christopher Walken, expressions, fish, fry, humor, language, malaphors, Max Shreck, mixed idioms, Tim Burton, words 2 CommentsThis one comes from the Christopher Walken character in the movie Batman Returns:
Charles ‘Chip’ Shreck: Dad, you buy that “blurry” business?
Maximillian’Max’ Shreck: Women. Nothing surprises me, Chip, except your late
mother. Who’d have thought Selina had a brain to damage. Bottom line,
she tries to blackmail me, I’ll drop her out a higher window. Meantime, I
got better fish to fry.
Things roll off my shoulders
Posted: July 28, 2013 Filed under: back, roll, shoulders | Tags: blended idioms, broad shoulders, conflation, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, roll off my back, words Leave a commentI think this is a mash up of “letting things roll off ones back” and “having broad shoulders”, both meaning to accept criticism and not worry. Shoulder rolls (or shrugs) also may come into play. A tip of the toque to Sam Edelmann for hearing and sharing this one.
They deserve a good clap on the back
Posted: July 10, 2013 Filed under: back, slap, wrist | Tags: blended idioms, clap, conflations, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, pat on the back, slap on the wrist, WESA, words Leave a commentI heard this one today on our local public radio station, WESA. The speaker was referring to the ACLU pursuing lawsuits against Pennsylvania laws supporting DOMA in response to the recent Supreme Court decision. He meant to say “pat on the back” (praise), but seems to have confused “slap on the wrist” (mild punishment) and “clap your hands”. Certainly clap as used as a noun has another meaning so my guess is he meant to say “pat”.
I don’t want to toot my own hat
Posted: June 17, 2013 Filed under: CLOTHING, hat, horns, THINGS, toot | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, hat, horn, humor, Jean Quan, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, toot, toot your own horn, words Leave a comment
English: Photo of Mayor Jean Quan from her 2010 Campaign (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This malaphor was spoken by Jean Quan, the mayor of Oakland, and appeared in the October 2012 issue of San Francisco Magazine. She meant to say “toot my own horn” (brag), and I think mixed that up with “take my hat off” (pay respect to someone or brag on them), but it could be just a mix up of the visual at a birthday party with party hats and horns. “Feather in one’s cap” also comes to mind, as well as “tip my hand”. Any other suggestions out there would be welcome. A tip of the toque to Mike Kovacs for spotting this one.
I’ve seen the gamut
Posted: June 12, 2013 Filed under: gamut, run | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, run the gamutd, words 1 CommentThis is a mixture of “run the gamut” and “seen it all”, both meaning to cover a wide range. This was heard at a legal conference where the speaker was referring to being involved in a wide range of cases and experiencing a lot. Thanks to John Costello for sending in this subtle but common gem.
Not to beat a broken record, but….
Posted: June 5, 2013 Filed under: beat, horse, record | Tags: beat a dead horse, blended idioms, broken record, conflations, horse, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, record, words Leave a commentThis is a conflation of “beat a dead horse” and “sound like a broken record’, both meaning to do or say the same thing over and over again. The best malaphors are the ones mixing similar meaning phrases, and this is a good example. Kudos to Kevin Hatfield for uttering this unintentional masterpiece, and to Justin Taylor for recognizing it.
I’m not going to buy anything on whole cloth
Posted: May 29, 2013 Filed under: buy | Tags: blended idioms, buy into, Chris Christie, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, Matt Lauer, mixed idioms, New Jersey, Today (NBC program), whole cloth, words Leave a commentThis mash up of “buy into (something)” (to accept or believe in something) and “out of whole cloth” (without foundation or not based on fact) was heard by Mike Kovacs on the Today show recently. Talking about scientists’ theories on whether Hurricane Sandy was caused by climate change, NJ Governor Chris Christie told Matt Lauer he was “not going to buy anything on whole cloth.”
Governor of New Jersey at a town hall in Hillsborough, NJ 3/2/11 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
It’s locked in stone
Posted: May 20, 2013 Filed under: lock, stone | Tags: blended idioms, carved in stone, expressions, humor, language, lock, malaphors, mixed idioms, stone, words Leave a commentThis is a mash up of “locked in” and “written (or carved) in stone”, both meaning something permanent or not subject to change.
She has flown off the deep end
Posted: May 3, 2013 Filed under: deep end, fly | Tags: Amanda Bynes, blended idioms, fly off the handle, gone off the deep end, Huffington Post, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentThis malaphor was found by Bob Ferrante as he was reading the Huffington Post. It is a mash up of “gone off the deep end” and “fly off the handle”, both meaning to get extremely angry or crazy. The blended idiom comes from a discussion about the actress Amanda Bynes:
“In case we needed any further proof that Amanda Bynes has flown off the deep end, here’s her latest outlandish Twitter remark…”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/28/amanda-bynes-twitter_n_2970924.html
They aren’t clicking on all cylinders
Posted: May 1, 2013 Filed under: clicking, cylinders | Tags: blended idioms, click, cylinders, firing on all cylinders, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, Pittsburgh Pirates, words 1 Comment
English: Pittsburgh Pirates cap insignia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
An announcer from the Pittsburgh Pirates pre-game show last night (4/30/13) said that while the
Pirates are doing well, “they aren’t clicking on all cylinders yet”. This is a mash-up of “firing (or hitting) on all cylinders” (working at full strength) and “clicking with (someone)” (understood by someone suddenly). A malaphor salute to Mitchell Hoyson for sending this one in!
Malaphors 
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