We aren’t going to throw in the white flag
Posted: April 28, 2013 Filed under: flag, throw, towel | Tags: blended idioms, Dwight Howard, expressions, flag, humor, language, Los Angeles Lakers, malaphors, mixed idioms, surrender, throw in the twoel, towel, wave the white flag, words Leave a comment
Dwight Howard (Photo credit: Keith Allison)
Commenting on the Lakers’ ability to play in the series when so many
players were injured, Los Angeles Laker Dwight Howard remarked that the players were
not about “to throw in the white flag.” Thanks to “My ol’ pal” who heard this gem on the 5:00 pm local L.A. news. It is a mash up of “throw in the towel” and “wave the white flag”, both meaning to surrender. Perhaps a white towel (a common sight with athletes) was also in the confusion.
You’re just rubbing sand in it
Posted: March 27, 2013 Filed under: rub, salt, sand | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, rub salt in the wound, salt, sand, Today, Willie Geist, words Leave a commentI heard this one by Willie Geist on the Today show. He meant to say “you’re just rubbing salt in the wound” as he was explaining that the person’s actions were making the situation worse. As for the other expression, not sure but certainly sand is abrasive and can hurt if in a wound. It also conjures up in my mind the guy kicking sand in the other’s face, aggravating the situation.
It’s Monday so I guess it’s back to the old bump and grind
Posted: March 18, 2013 Filed under: bump, grind | Tags: blended idioms, bump and grind, expressions, grind, humor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentThis beauty is an incongurent conflation of “the old grind” and “bump and grind”, two expressions that have nothing to do with each other except for a certain profession. Props to Sally Adler who heard this on the NPR show “Way with Words”. Have fun with this one!
Jedi mind-meld
Posted: March 2, 2013 Filed under: Jedi, mind-meld | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, Jedi, language, malaphors, mind-meld, mixed idioms, words 4 CommentsFor this one, I will leave the ‘splaining to Al Kamen of the Washington Post:
President Obama might be urging cooperation between Democrats and Republicans on the sequester.
But the only things that seems to be mixing at the moment are metaphors.
During his news conference Friday, Obama said some people unfairly expected him to be able to force Republicans to accept his terms. “Even though most people agree… I’m presenting a fair deal, the fact that they don’t take it means that I should somehow do a Jedi mind-meld with these folks and convince them to do what’s right,” he said.
That phrase “Jedi mind meld,”which he uttered during extemporaneous (read: no prompter or script) remarks during the question-and-answer portion of the newser, appears to combine elements from two distinct sci-fi worlds.
A “Jedi mind trick” is a power exercised by Jedi Knights in “Star Wars,” usually accomplished by verbal manipulation (Famous example: “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.”)
But “mind meld” is a phenomenon from “Star Trek.” It’s a method of communication used among Vulcans, like Spock.
Obama’s mash-up of the two is certain to provoke outcry among the fervent fans of each franchise. And no matter what happens in Washington, the president might find that bringing together Trekkies and Star Wars aficionados might be tougher than brokering a bipartisan compromise.
Vulcan (Star Trek) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
He got kind of thrown into the gauntlet
Posted: February 23, 2013 Filed under: fire, gauntlet, run | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, Matt Barkley, mixed idioms, National Football League, New York Jets, run the gauntlet, thrown into the fire, words 1 Comment
Taken by James Santelli, Neon Tommy. September 24, 2011. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This is another great one from the sports world. At the NFL combine, Matt Barkley of USC had this to say about former USC QB Marc Sanchez:
“He got kind of thrown into the gauntlet in New York.”
This is a mash-up of “thrown into the fire” and “run the gauntlet”. Thanks to Gerry for this beauty, approaching “the master” level.
http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/jets/post/_/id/20940/barkley-will-learn-from-sanchez-experiences
I must have been out in left space
Posted: February 22, 2013 Filed under: spaced | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, out in left field, spaced out, words 4 CommentsThis is a mash up of “out in left field” (offbeat or unusual) and “spaced out” (disoriented). Sounds like something Eva Gabor would have said on Green Acres. A big thanks to John for sending this one in!
That would be a tough nut to swallow
Posted: February 20, 2013 Filed under: ACTION, crack, FOOD, nut, pill, swallow, THINGS | Tags: bitter pill to swallow, blended idioms, conflations, crack, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, nut, pill, swallow, tough nut to crack, words 3 CommentsThis clever congruent conflation is a blend of “tough nut to crack” and “bitter pill to swallow”, both referring to hard things to do. Both also contain four words, and both involve actions. And of course a tough nut is always hard to swallow,
right? A big shout out to Susan E for sending me this one that she heard her husband utter last week.
I’m just talking out loud
Posted: February 16, 2013 Filed under: ACTION, talk, think | Tags: blended idioms, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, talking out, thinking out loud Leave a commentThis is a mash up of “thinking out loud” and probably “talking (something) out”. Maybe a little “crying out loud” as well? This is a very common malaphor it seems based on the number of google hits. Thanks to cSidick for contributing this one.
Throw it under the rug
Posted: February 12, 2013 Filed under: ACTION, brush, rug, sweep, throw | Tags: blended idioms, bus, Catholic Church, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, rug, sweep under the carpet, throw under the bus, words 2 CommentsThis mixed idiom was heard on NPR this morning in a story about the Catholic Church. This is a mixture of “sweep it under the rug (or carpet)” (hide or ignore something) and “throw him under the bus” (sacrifice someone for personal gain). It is similar to the 12/23/12 malaphor posting “brush it under the rug”. The confusion seems to lie in action words such as sweep, brush, and throw. Of course, many of us have thrown a few items under the rug when company came unannounced. Thanks Lauren for sending in this gem!
He really threw a monkey wrench into that fire
Posted: February 8, 2013 Filed under: ACTION, ANIMALS, monkey, PLACES, THINGS, throw, wrench | Tags: adding fuel to the fire, blended idioms, expressions, fire, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, monkey wrench, words Leave a commentMy dear friend Cindy W. said when she said this one, everyone looked at her like she had “four heads”. This terrific malaphor thus is a 4 head winner. It is a mash up of “throw a monkey wrench in (something)” (to cause something to fail) and “throw gas (or fuel) on the fire” or “out of the frying pan into the fire” (both meaning make a bad situation worse), or even “several irons in the fire” (a number of possibilities).
English: Line art drawing of a monkey wrench. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: vervet monkey in the Kruger NP (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Malaphors 
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