Get down to the soup and nuts of it
Posted: September 8, 2015 Filed under: FOOD, nut, soup, Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, nuts and bolts, soup to nuts, words Leave a commentThe speaker was discussing an issue and wanted to get to the heart of the matter. This is a mash up of “get down to the nuts and bolts” (get down to the basic facts) and “everything from soup to nuts” (almost everything one can think of). “Get down to brass tacks” (begin to talk about the important stuff) might also be in the mix given the context. And then there is the Soup Nazi (nutsy?) who also wanted everyone to just get to the heart of the matter and order soup. A big thank you to Elaine Hatfield for hearing this one and passing it on!
You’re a tough nut to follow
Posted: July 1, 2015 Filed under: crack, FOOD, nut | Tags: expressions, hard act to follow, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, tough nut to crack, words Leave a commentI had to post this one right away, as it comes on the heels of Lara Hayhurst Compton’s “better safe than never”, which we both agree should be Planned Parenthood’s new slogan. “A tough nut to follow” was spoken by Tim Hughes, a talented actor who is currently playing the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz at the Fulton Theater in Lancaster, PA. This malaphor is a mash up of “tough act to follow” (outstanding performance) and “tough nut to crack” (difficult person or problem to deal with). Tough is the operative word here, which my guess led to the malaphor. Of course, Tim might have been referring to a difficult person who gave a great performance! This one is also similar to “tough nut to swallow” see – https://malaphors.com/2013/02/20/that-would-be-a-tough-nut-to-swallow/ A big thank you to Lara Hayhurst Compton for hearing this one and passing it on!
She’s a tough cookie to crack
Posted: September 27, 2014 Filed under: cookie, FOOD, nut | Tags: congruent conflation, congruent conflations, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, tough cookie, tough nut to crack, words Leave a commentThis is a congruent conflation of “tough cookie” and “a hard (or tough) nut to crack”, both describing difficult people to deal with. I suppose you can crack cookies, particularly if they are very stale. My mom would put a piece of bread in the cookie jar to avoid cracked cookies. A big thanks to Mary for blurting this one out, describing her very sassy cat. Apparently the cat is still a tough cookie to crack.
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 1 CommentThis 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.
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