It was like pulling blood out of a stone

Posted: April 23, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: ACTION, pull, stone, THINGS | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This is a perfect congruent conflation.  It mixes “getting blood out of (or from) a stone” and “like pulling teeth”, both phrases meaning to do something with great difficulty.  The speaker was finding a particular essay difficult to write and remarked that writing it was like pulling blood out of a stone.  A big thanks to Red C. for sending this one in from the U.K.

I’m going to pull his button

Posted: December 29, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: ACTION, button, pull, push, THINGS | Tags: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Push or pull?  It’s a choice we make everyday.   In this case, the speaker made the wrong choice but a great malaphor.  It is a mash up of “pushing his button” (to do the exact thing to make someone act the way you want) and “pulling his leg” (to fool or trick someone).  A big thanks to Jack de Golia for sending this one in!

He kept pushing my strings

Posted: November 24, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: ACTION, CLOTHING, pull, push, strings, THINGS | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Push or pull?  Buttons or strings?  Oh, the mind twists and turns in mysterious ways, particularly as one grows older.  I heard myself saying this one awhile back.  This is a confused conflation of “pushing his buttons” (knowing ways to make a person angry) and “pulling strings” (“to use influence to get something done”).    Of course, I am sure Pinocchio must have said this at some point to Geppetto.

Cover of "Geppetto"

Cover of Geppetto