Don’t get caught with the hot potato when it goes off
Posted: March 14, 2014 Filed under: grenade, potato | Tags: expressions, grenade, hot potato, humor, language, live grenade, malaphor, malaphors, potato, words 3 CommentsThis crazy mess was heard on a conference call. It is a mash up of “hot potato” and “playing with a live grenade”, both describing something dangerous or difficult to deal with. The speaker was urging people to move problems along. The speaker may have also been thinking of the German hand grenade called the potato masher. The Model 24 Stielhandgranate was the standard hand grenade of the German Army from the end of World War I until the end of World War II. The very distinctive appearance led to its being called a “stick grenade”, or a “potato masher” in British Army slang. Thank you to Yvonne Stam for hearing this one and passing it along, so to speak….
That really took the starch out of my sails
Posted: February 25, 2014 Filed under: sails, starch, THINGS | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, knocked the starch out of me, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, take the wind out of my sails, words Leave a commentThis is a conflation of several phrases. The speaker was talking about his near death experience while cycling, so “it knocked the starch out of me” (to be beat up severely) may be in the mix, but I think the better phrase is “it took the starch out of me” (it made me tired or weak) as he was scared. The other phrase is probably “it knocked the wind out of my sails” (heavy blow to the body) rather than “taking the wind out of my sails” (challenging someone’s boasting or arrogance). A big shout out to Tom Justice for sending this one in!
Put the metal on the gas
Posted: February 22, 2014 Filed under: pedal | Tags: blended idioms, congruent conflation, expressions, gas, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, pedal, pedal to the metal, step on the gas, words 2 CommentsThis is a congruent conflation of “put the pedal to the metal” and “step on the gas”, both meaning to speed up. I heard this one on a tv sports show uttered by Wally Szczerbiak. He was discussing at halftime that the team behind needed to step it up.
We have so many hurdles to cross
Posted: February 15, 2014 Filed under: hoops, hurdles, PLACES, river, THINGS | Tags: blended idioms, clear hurdles, crossing the rubicon, expressions, humor, Jimmy Cliff, jump through hoops, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, rivers to cross, words Leave a commentThis is a mash up of “clear a hurdle” (overcome an obstacle) and I think “rivers to cross” , borrowed from the great Jimmy Cliff song “Many Rivers to Cross”, based on the context of the malaphor. “Crossed the Rubicon” (taken action with no return) also comes to mind. “Jumping through hoops” (to do extra things to get what you want) might also be in the mix, confusing hoops and hurdles. Thanks to Sam Edelmann for spotting this one!
This is a perfect example of the frying pan calling the kettle black
Posted: January 26, 2014 Filed under: black, COLORS, fire, kettle, THINGS | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, out of the frying pan into the fire, pot calling the kettle black, words 4 CommentsI am not making these up. This one was from a commenter (UltraLiberal) in response to a New York Times Op-ed by Gail Collins entitled “The Luck of the Pontiff” – http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/23/opinion/collins-the-luck-of-the-pontiff.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0 The commenter posted:
ULtraliberal
“Anti-Catholicism, with over one Billion Catholics in the world,I don’t think. Catholics have to worry about extinction,This is a perfect example of the frying pan calling the kettle black.”
That’s a whole different ball of fish
Posted: January 24, 2014 Filed under: ANIMALS, ball, fish, kettle, THINGS | Tags: ball, congruent conflation, different ball of wax, different kettle of fish, expressions, fish, humor, kettle, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, wax, words Leave a commentThis is a mix of two phrases with the same meaning – “different ball of wax” and “different kettle of fish” (completely different or not at all similar). Fish ball soup might also be in the unconscious here (see picture). This type of malaphor involving phrases with the same or similar meanings is also referred to as a congruent conflation and is usually the most commonly uttered malaphor (and usually the best). Loyal follower David Spain unintentionally blurted this one out and referred it here. Thanks David!
Wake up and smell the roses
Posted: January 16, 2014 Filed under: coffee, FOOD, roses, THINGS | Tags: blended idioms, Coffee, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, roses, stop and smell the roses, wake up and smell the coffee, words 1 CommentThis common malaphor (many hits on the internet) is a mixture of “wake up and smell the coffee” (try to pay attention to what is going on), “come up smelling like a rose” (succeeding from a bad situation) and “stop and smell the roses” (enjoy what’s around you). The latter was a title to a 1974 hit song by Mac Davis. This malaphor is similar to “please stop and smell the daisies” published on August 30, 2013. Many thanks to Sam Edelmann for unintentionally uttering this one and passing it along!
Throwing red meat on the fire
Posted: January 14, 2014 Filed under: fire, meat, THINGS | Tags: add fuel to the fire, blended idioms, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, throwing red meat, words 1 CommentThis great mash up of “adding fuel to the fire” (making matters worse) and “throwing red meat” (appease or excite followers) was just heard on the local NPR station, WESA. The speaker may have been thinking of old Boy Scout days of dangling meat on a campfire. Certainly in most cases red meat needs to be cooked, so it makes sense that the two phrases were mixed up in the recesses of the brain. The mind is like a big cookie jar, and sometimes when you pull a cookie out it breaks, and you are left with halves of two different cookies. That is what we do with idioms and phrases, on occasion, and the result is a delectable malaphor. A big thanks to Rob Blackburn for sending this one in!
When all the balls are in line
Posted: January 11, 2014 Filed under: ANIMALS, ball, duck, THINGS | Tags: balls in the air, blended idioms, congruent conflations, ducks in a row, expressions, fall in line, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, stars aligned, words Leave a commentChristopher Dolan, the California lawyer who is representing the McMath family who has a brain dead daughter, said regarding litigation against the hospital, “What we needed to know is that when all the balls are in line that we could move quickly and not have to then have any impediments.” This is a mash up of “ducks in a row” and “fall in line”, both meaning to have things properly organized. “Stars aligned” might also be in the mix as that phrase also means things happen in an organized way and also line rhymes with aligned. Also “many balls in the air” might be at play since the speaker used the word balls and was referring to many things happening, although not at once. Thanks to Ron Marks for sending this one in!
http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1401/04/ndaysat.01.html
Gem in a haystack
Posted: January 3, 2014 Filed under: gem, haystack, needle | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, hidden gem, hidden jewel, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, needle in a haystack, words Leave a commentThis is a mash up of “needle in a haystack” (something extremely hard to find) and “hidden gem” (an undiscovered talent or place). The phrase actually is a great one in context, where a trip advisor reviewer was relating how he had discovered a great restaurant:
Thanks to Lou Pugliese for sending this one in!
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