Clinton is selling them down the tubes
Posted: August 28, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Anderson Cooper, Donald Trump, expressions, going down the tubes, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed metaphors, selling them down the river, words Leave a commentDuring an interview with Anderson Cooper this week, Donald Trump responded to a question from Anderson on why he called Hillary Clinton a bigot. Referring to African Americans, Trump said that Clinton is “selling them down the tubes.” This is a mash up of “selling them down the river” (harming or disappointing people who trusted you) and “going down the tubes” (to become much worse). “Down” is the culprit here, as it appears in both idioms. Also, I suspect the image of tubing down the river might have floated in Donald’s mind.
For the first time, I received a malaphor spotting from two people, both who are loyal malaphor watchers and followers, Mike Kovacs and Sally Adler. A yuuuge thanks to Mike and Sally for hearing this timely mixed idiom and sending it in!
If you liked this one from the political world, I have a whole chapter of malaphors uttered by politicians in my new book, “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors”, available on Amazon now!!
He threw caution out the window
Posted: August 26, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, out the window, throw caution to the wind, words 1 CommentWhen this gem was uttered by her husband, Susan Edwards, a loyal malaphor follower, immediately contacted Malaphor Central (me) to report it. This is a mash up of “throw caution to the wind” (to take a risk) and “out the window” (gone or wasted). The hiccup here is obviously the words “wind” and “window”. The prepositions “to” and “out”, both indicating movement, also were mixed up. Perhaps this could be a new cliche, meaning someone who is extremely reckless and/or daring? A big thanks to Bob Edwards for uttering this one and Susan Edwards for hearing it and passing it on!
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Look what the cat dragged out of the bag!
Posted: August 24, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: cat out of the bag, expressions, humor, language, look what the cat dragged in, malaphor, malaphors, words Leave a commentThe speaker and his co-workers were serving as greeters for a Christmas Eve service. A mutual friend was approaching from a distance and the speaker casually but jokingly yelled this malaphor out. It is a nice mash up of two idioms involving the word “cat” – “look at what the cat dragged in” (exclamation about a person who just arrived, presumably late) and “the cat is out of the bag” (the secret has been revealed). A big thanks to Joel who uttered this mixed metaphor and for sending it in! I expect to see more from him as he has a reputation for unintentional idiom blending!
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There is not enough respect shown to ordinary people busting their necks
Posted: August 22, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: breaking their necks, busting their butts, expressions, humor, Joe Biden, language, malaphor, malaphors, Morning Joe, MSNBC, Trump, words Leave a commentThis beauty was uttered by Vice President Joe Biden on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. He was talking about both parties and noting that they were not very good “at listening to the concerns of ordinary people busting their necks.” http://info.msnbc.com/_news/2016/07/27/35882707-morning-joe-news-joe-biden-says-the-democratic-party-overall-hasnt-spoken-enough-to-white-working-class-voters?lite
This is a nice congruent conflation of “busting their butts” and “breaking their necks”, both meaning to work very hard. The confusion not only stems from the similar meanings of both phrases but also the words “bust” and “break”. In addition, as noted here many times, body parts are often mixed up in the wonderful world of malaphors. A big thanks to Linda Bernstein for catching this in the NY Times and passing it on!
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Go over and beyond 4 this Lil dude
Posted: August 21, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: above and beyond, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, over the top, words Leave a commentThis nice malaphor was written by Washington Redskins wide receiver DeSean Jackson on his Facebook page, relating his affection for his son. It is a mash up of “above and beyond” and “over the top”, both meaning extreme or more than is required. Idioms with direction words are commonly mixed. Many thanks to Judy McLendon Knaub for spotting this one and passing it on!
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It’s like finding a diamond in a haystack
Posted: August 19, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: diamond in the rough, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, needle in a haystack, words Leave a commentThe speaker was describing something that was hard to find. This is a nice mash up of “diamond in the rough” (someone or something whose good qualities are hidden) and “needle in a haystack” (something extremely hard to find). Both idioms involve something hidden, which I imagine caused the mental hiccup. Also both phrases are the same symmetrically, i.e., four words and sharing the word “in”. In addition, needles and diamonds are both sharp objects , and haystacks tend to be unkempt and rough. Like a diamond, this malaphor just gets better on closer inspection.
Perhaps in Trinidad and Tobago this phrase is an accepted one, as President Anthony Carmona described the new chairman of the Salaries Review Commission (SRC), Kyle Rudden (picture below), as “a diamond in the haystack.” http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2015-10-28/diamond-haystack.
A big thanks to Gabe for hearing this one and sending it in!
Speaking of diamonds in the rough, my book “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors” is really a secret gem found only on Amazon! Check it out at http://www.amazon.com/dp/0692652205.
It went to pot in a handbag
Posted: August 17, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: books, going to pot, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, to hell in a handbag, to hell in a handbasket, words Leave a commentYvonne Stam, a frequent contributor to this site, heard this gem from her sister, who was referring to children reaching middle school age. It is a congruent conflation of “going to pot” and “going to hell in a handbasket”, both meaning declining or getting worse. As Yvonne says, the speaker was probably confusing the word “handbasket” (surely an antique word) with handbag. She also points out that “to hell in a handbag” is noted in Wikipedia as a common version. This malaphor is similar to one I posted in 2012, “the project is going to pot in a handbasket” (https://malaphors.com/2012/09/15/the-project-is-going-to-pot-in-a-handbasket/) which was uttered in the 70s. Perhaps handbaskets were more common then. Pot was, that’s for sure.
A big thanks to Yvonne Stam for hearing this one and sending it in!
You are cutting yourself off at the foot
Posted: August 15, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: cut someone off at the knees, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, shoot yourself at the foot, words Leave a commentThe speaker was telling someone that his statement was hurting his own argument. It is a nice blend of “shoot yourself in the foot” (foolishly harm one’s own cause) and “cut (someone) off at the knees” (thoroughly humiliate or squelch). Any frequent reader of this blog will know that idioms containing body parts are often confused and mixed. In this case, feet and knees are the culprits. Shooting and cutting, both action verbs that involve penetration, also seem to play a part in this malaphor. Many thanks to Lara Hayhurst Compton for saying this and Jody Compton for sending it on!
If you liked this one, and want more hands/feet/knees/ankles mix ups, get the book He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors, available on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/dp/0692652205.
There wasn’t a shot in hell I was losing
Posted: August 13, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 2016 Olympic Games, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, Michael Phelps, shot in hell, shot in the dark, snowball's chance in hell, words Leave a commentI had to post this one immediately as it is fresh from Rio. Michael Phelps was talking about his on his win in the 200m butterfly: ‘There wasn’t a shot in hell I was losing’ . This is a mash up of “shot in the dark” (a wild guess or attempt) and “snowball’s chance in hell” (no chance at all). Perhaps “shot to hell” (worn out or ruined) might have also been on the speaker’s mind as both words appear in the malaphor, but since it has very little to do with the context, I doubt it. “A cold day in hell” (an impossible event) may also have been on Michael’s mind, as he clearly believed (and rightly so) that he was not going to be beaten in that event. Here is the link to his interview:
A big thanks to Gerry Abbott for his keen ears in hearing this one and passing it on!
Enjoying the Olympics? Pair those events with the malaphor book, He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors, where an entire chapter is devoted to sports malaphors just like the one above. Check it out on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/dp/0692652205.
The man is a nut cake
Posted: August 10, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Chris Hayes, Donald Trump, expressions, Gordon Humphrey, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, MSNBC, nutcase, nutty as a fruitcake, words Leave a commentOn MSNBC’s “All In with Chris Hayes” show last night, former New Hampshire Senator Gordon Humphrey (R-NH) said Trump is a “nut cake”. This is a congruent conflation of “nutcase” and “nutty as a fruitcake”, both obviously meaning to be crazy or insane. Here is an excerpt from the transcript, courtesy of Breitbart News (trying to stay apolitical here):
In the common parlance, the man is a nut cake, he is a looney bird. And it would be the height of irresponsibility to elevate him to the presidency. It would be recklessness to make him commander in chief. I’ve issued a call to members of the RNC this afternoon to demand an emergency meeting of the Republican National Committee to strip Donald Trump of the nomination and to replace him with someone of sound mind.
http://www.breitbart.com/video/2016/08/09/fmr-nh-senator-trump/
As followers know, malaphors are spoken by all, including Republicans and Democrats. Who can forget Obama’s excellent “my opponent would like you to think I am green behind the ears when it comes to foreign policy”, or Hillary Clinton’s recent “the creme de la resistance”? A big thanks to Sam Edelmann who heard this one and passed it on to Malaphor Central.
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