Chomping at our heels

Tyler Kennedy, a retired Pittsburgh Penguin and hockey commentator, was talking about the playoff race on the Pittsburgh sports radio show 93.7 The Fan. At the time the Penguins were ahead of three teams by one point but Kennedy said those teams were “chomping at our heels”. This is a mashup of “champing at the bit” (waiting in an impatient way to do something) and “nipping on (someone’s or something’s) heels” (to be very close behind in rank, score, etc).

Which leads me to ask the question: Is the idiom “champing at the bit” or “chomping at the bit”? I always thought “champing” was correct, until I read this NPR piece:

“The listener could have complained that “chomping at the bit” is a cliché, and that it’s one we’ve used at least three times so far this month. But his gripe was more specific — that we should have said “champing at the bit.”

To the dictionary we go:

Webster’s says “champ at the bit” is to “show impatience at restraint; be restless.” It comes from something said about horses when they bite their bits “repeatedly and restlessly.” They “champ.”

The AP says “champ at the bit” is “the original and better form.”

But, Webster’s adds that “chomp at the bit” is a variation.

What’s more, no less an authority than William Safire weighed in 31 years ago, saying that “to spell it champing at the bit when most people would say chomping at the bit is to slavishly follow outdated dictionary preferences.”

The Grammarist blog also comes down on the side of “chomping.” It points out that “champing at the bit can sound funny to people who aren’t familiar with the idiom or the obsolete sense of champ, while most English speakers can infer the meaning of chomping at the bit.”

We’ve been … itching to issue a note about some picky point of punctuation or grammar. After chewing on this one for a while, we’re not going to insist on “champing.” Feel free to use it. After all, you’ll score points with the lexicographers out there.

But “chomping” is fine.

A shout out to John Kooser for hearing this malaphor and sending it in!

Francis Ford Key Bridge

Jeff Ostroff, who has a YouTube channel for DIY engineers, was talking about the recent collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge and inadvertently said “Francis Ford Key Bridge”. Here is the clip:

This is a mashup of “Francis Scott Key” and “Francis Ford Coppola”. Perhaps Jeff was also thinking of Fort (Ford?) McHenry, which is downstream where Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner. A shout out to Pierre Abbat for catching this one and sending it in!

Don’t be such a Doubting Nellie

A husband was going to fix something in the house and his wife said “don’t do it as you’ll make it worse”. The husband replied with this nice mashup of “Doubting Thomas” (a skeptic who doesn’t believe anything without personal experience) and “Nervous Nellie” (worried or anxious person). A big thanks to John Kooser who unintentionally said this one and sent it in!

Keep your pedal on the gas

This mashup was uttered by the courtside reporter in McDonald’s All-American Game on ESPN at 9:50 p.m., asking High School Superstar Dylan Harper how his team would keep it going in the second half: “How will you keep your pedal on the gas”? It is a mix of “put the pedal to the metal” and “step on the gas”, both meaning to speed up. This one is similar to https://malaphors.com/2014/02/22/put-the-metal-on-the-gas/. A tip of the toque to Bruce Ryan for hearing this one and sending it in.

You’ll be ahead of the bandwagon!

A professor was telling her class that they will be studying a certain subject in more detail next semester so studying it ahead of time might be unnecessary but “at least this way you’ll be ahead of the bandwagon!” This is a mashup of “ahead of the curve” (at the forefront or leading in something) and “jump on the bandwagon” (join something only after it has become popular).

The origin of the idiom ‘jump on the bandwagon’ is an interesting one. In nineteenth century America, a ‘bandwagon’ was a horse-drawn wagon with a platform for a group of musicians (a band) that often preceded a circus parade. The phrase was first seen in 1848, when a famous clown named Dan Rice would use his circus bandwagon to transport politicians around town while the music attracted the public to an area where campaign speeches were being given. https://www.gingersoftware.com/content/phrases/jump-on-the-bandwagon

A big thank you to Rob Shand for hearing this one and passing it on!

I would have fought him to the teeth for her

A physical therapist was talking about a new hire that another PT wanted to also hire. The new hire was apparently great. This is a mashup of “fight tooth and nail” (engage in vigorous combat) and “fight to the death” (intensely pursue an outcome refusing to accept defeat). Both expressions have the word “fight” which is the source of the mental mixup. “Tooth and nail” seems to be an idiom frequently messed up, considering I have posted others – see https://malaphors.com/2021/02/15/we-fought-each-other-like-tooth-and-tongue/ and https://malaphors.com/2018/06/29/they-are-scrambling-tooth-and-nail/. Also, if you type “teeth” in the search engine, there are many malaphors associated with our little chiclets. Props to Barry Eigen for hearing this one and sending it in.

They all have their tricks in a hat

This one was uttered on Episode 3, Season 46 (!) of the tv show “Survivor”. It is a mashup of “a bag of tricks” (items that one has available for use) and “pull a rabbit out of the hat” (to do something surprising and seemingly impossible). “Have a trick up (one’s) sleeve” (have a secret plan or advantage) may be in the mix given the context. Kudos to Fred Martin for hearing this one and sending it in!

She is holding him to task

MSNBC legal correspondent Katie Phang was talking about the E. Jean Carroll case and that Carroll is holding Trump “to task”. Here’s the clip:

This is a congruent conflation of “take (one) to task” and “hold (one) accountable”, both meaning to hold someone responsible for what they do and demand a satisfactory reason for it. A tip of the hat to Mike Kovacs for spotting this one and sending it in!

Atkinson’s Disease, Part 2

Several malaphor followers mentioned Addison’s disease as possibly being part of the mashup. In fact, after doing a little research, I believe the docent was confusing Addison’s, not Parkinson’s, with Atkin’s Diet. The mashup was heard at the Ringling Museum in Sarasota, Florida. The docent was talking about John Ringling’s wife, Mable, who did indeed die of Addison’s Disease. https://ringlingdocents.org/burton.htm

The docent did say Atkinson’s Disease, so it is still a nice malaphor. Thanks to Beth Luey, Linda Bernstein, and Martin Pietrucha for suggesting Addison’s Disease as a part of the conflation.

Atkinson’s Disease

A docent at a museum was talking about a person with Parkinson’s disease, but uttered this malaphor instead. I think it is a mashup of “Atkins Diet” and “Parkinson’s Disease”. A big thanks to Anthony Kovacs for hearing this one and passing it on.