He’s as clean as apple pie
Posted: February 15, 2013 Filed under: Apple pie, FOOD, Whistle | Tags: apple pie, blended idioms, C Gonzalez, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, Washington nationals, whistle, words Leave a commentThis beauty was uttered by Max Gonzalez, the father of Washington Nationals’ pitcher, Gio Gonzalez, in response to accusations that his son took steroids. It is a mash up of “clean as a whistle” and “American as apple pie”. Thanks to Bruce for sending this one. For more on this malaphor and the Washington Post story, check out my Facebook page, Malaphors.
The sImilarities are deafening
Posted: February 14, 2013 Filed under: Silence | Tags: blended idioms, Deafening, expressions, humor, malaphors, mixed idioms, silence, words Leave a commentThis one came to me from a newspaper. It is a mixture of “silence is deafening” and “similarities are striking”. Heavy metal and movie theaters perhaps?
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!
I don’t want to reinvent the horse
Posted: February 11, 2013 Filed under: ANIMALS, horse, THINGS, wheel | Tags: beat a dead horse, blended idioms, expressions, horse, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, reinvent the wheel, wheel, words 1 CommentThis malaphor is a mash up of “reinvent the wheel” (make unnecessary preparations) and “beat a dead horse” (waste time trying to do something that will not succeed), both involving wasted time. A big shout out to Cecily for providing this beauty.
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)
He is turning around a new leaf
Posted: February 7, 2013 Filed under: ACTION, leaf, THINGS, turn | Tags: blended idioms, conflations, expressions, humor, language, leaf, malaphors, mixed idioms, turn over a new leaf, turning around, words Leave a commentMy daughter said this one yesterday and immediately texted me (I have malaphor hunters everywhere). This is a conflation of “turning around” and “turn over a new leaf”, both meaning to change. Here is a great example using the malaphor:
Oprah Winfrey has dropped 25 pounds on her new diet!! After launching her OWN network and a subsequent battle against low ratings Oprah packed on some pounds. This year however the media mogul is turning around a new leaf and hired a new chef.”
http://www.popularcritic.com/2012/06/20/oprah-winfreys-weight-loss-plan-revealed/
The kids don’t have to be rocket surgeons
Posted: February 2, 2013 Filed under: PEOPLE, rockets, surgeons, THINGS | Tags: blended idioms, brain surgeon, cnn, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, martin bashir, mixed idioms, rocket scientist, stacey campfield, wordplay, words 5 CommentsThis beauty was said by Tennessee State Senator Stacey Campfield on CNN last week. In response to Martin Bashir‘s question of why tying welfare benefits to children’s grades wouldn’t hurt the family overall, Sen. Campfield said, “the kids don’t have to be rocket surgeons.” This is a nice mash up of “brain surgeon” and “rocket scientist”. Thanks to Sam for finding this one replayed on the Jay Leno show! The exchange is in the link below:
That’s been a pet dream of mine
Posted: January 23, 2013 Filed under: ANIMALS, dream, pet, THINGS | Tags: dream, expressions, humor, language, linguistics, malaphors, pet peeve, pet project, wet dream, wordplay, words Leave a commentThis curious statement, heard years ago in a meeting, is a mash up of several thoughts, I think. The speaker was trying to say “a dream” but was also probably thinking “pet project”. “Pipe dream” also comes to mind. One can’t ignore the possibility that “wet dream” as well as “pet peeve” were phrases floating in the subconscious (you had to know the guy). There may be a thin line between that exciting pet dream and a wet dream. Of course, I wouldn’t know…
The Thinking Man sculpture at Musée Rodin in Paris (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Party for two?
Posted: January 22, 2013 Filed under: party, PLACES, THINGS | Tags: blended idioms, dinner for two, expressions, humor, language, lingusitics, malaphors, mixed idioms, party of two, Shania Twain, words Leave a commentA friend heard this subtle malaphor from a seating host at a restaurant. This is a mash up of “party of two” and “table for two”, both expressions used at restaurants. This is in contrast to a true party for two, noted by Shania Twain in her hit, “Party for Two”:
BRIDGE:
It doesn’t matter what you wear
‘Cause it’s only gonna be
you and me there (Whoa!)
CHORUS:
I’m having a party
A party for two
Invitin’ nobody
Nobody but you
We barely scratched the tip of the iceberg
Posted: January 19, 2013 Filed under: ACTION, iceberg, scratch, THINGS | Tags: blended idiom, expression, humor, iceberg, language, malaphor, mixed idiom, scratched the surface, tip of the iceberg, words Leave a commentThis congruent malaphor is a mix of “barely scratching the surface” and “tip of the iceberg”, both referring to the beginning of a much larger issue or problem. Here is an example
in context:
In closing, the recession is hard but that is not to say that survival is impossible, but you will have to be more creative with your money especially if you are a family at a budget. Of course, these tips only scratched the tip of the iceberg when it comes to financial planning and frugality. If you’ve already done these tips and are finding you need additional help, then never underestimate the power of a reasonable and well-thought-out budget. (from the article, Top 5 Ways for families to survive the Recession – http://voices.yahoo.com/top-5-ways-families-survive-recession-8644177.html?cat=25).
English: Iceberg around Cape York, Greenland (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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