It’s right under my eyes

Posted: October 25, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: BODY PARTS, eye, nose | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

This subtle, perfectly formed malaphor is a mash up of “right under my nose” and “right before my eyes”, both meaning something obvious and not hidden.  This congruent conflation might also seem obviously correct but on reflection it is indeed a malaphor.   It is another example of mixed up idioms involving body parts, particularly on the head for some reason.  Another big thanks to the Midwest Regional Senior Malaphor Hunter, Mike Kovacs.

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It’s music to my eyes

Posted: February 28, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: BODY PARTS, ear, eye | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The exact quote is “any fine gold in there would be music to my eyes”, recently heard on the show “Gold Rush” last Sunday.   Given the context, the mash up is  “music to my ears” (make someone happy) and “a sight for sore eyes” (a welcome sight), both describing the speaker’s emotions.   As we have learned,  mixing body parts is common in malaphors.  A big shout out to Michael Ameel for hearing (and seeing) this one!

We keep our eyes to the ground

Posted: August 13, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: BODY PARTS, ear, eye, ground | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This is a mix of “keep an ear to the ground” (alert and listening for clues) and “keep your eyes wide open (or peeled)” (vigilant and watchful).  This subtle conflation was heard on Bloomberg news:
Question from interviewer:  how do you have such success picking funds?
Ans:  we keep our eyes to the ground.
The speaker quickly corrected himself and said: “We keep our ears to the ground and look ahead.”  Self caught malaphor.  Nice.  A big thank you to John Costello for hearing this one.

Keep your eyes on the tiger

Posted: August 4, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: eye, tiger | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This is a blend of “eyes on the prize” and “eye of the tiger”.  I heard this tonight in the Sopranos episode “Sentimental Education” (Season five, Episode six).  The writing in the Sopranos is rich with wordplay.  I have posted several malaphors heard on the Sopranos series.

Not a dry tear in the room

Posted: December 7, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: BODY PARTS, eye, tears | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This mixes “not a dry eye” (everyone crying from something emotional) and possibly “not shed a tear”(not showing emotion even though something is sad).  “Move to tears” and “end in tears” also could be in play here.  Of course, the speaker is thinking crying so naturally the word “tears” wells up in his mind.    A big thank you to Vic for sharing this.  It was spoken by a friend that was in charge of the sound board during the 60th birthday celebration of his pastor’s wife.