In the podcast “Behind the Bastards”, “Part 4: The Terrible Secret of Steve Jobs”, host Robert Evans says:
“there’s too many bad people out there for me to get all that burned out of shape about every one of them” (at 53:12).
This is a congruent conflation of “burned up” and “bent out of shape”, both meaning to be angry or agitated. Kudos to Doug Pietrucha for hearing this one and immediately sending it in.
A grandfather was reminiscing with his grandson about a trip to Custer State Park, and when they were nearly “strampled” by a buffalo. This is a word blend of “stomped” and “trampled”. The speaker might also have been thinking of a “stampede”. A big thanks to Dan Geier for unintentionally uttering this malaphor, and Gabe Ruano for hearing it!
A discussion about a controversial social media post led to this word blend malaphor. It is a congruent conflation of “uproar” and “backlash”, both meaning a public negative reaction to something. As I have noted previously, single word blend malaphors are unconscious blends of words to make an unintentional new word. (for a discussion of the difference between a word blend malaphor and a portmanteau, see https://malaphors.com/2013/02/02/portmanteaus-and-single-word-malaphors/). The word sounds or looks correct at first blush, but then on closer examination is incorrect. Examples on this website include “Buckminster Palace” (Buckingham and Westminster, and/or possibly Buckminster Fuller) and “split-minute decision” (split second and last minute). “Slunched” is a recent one (slouched + hunched). A tip of the hat to Mike Kovacs for unintentionally uttering this one and Anthony Kovacs for spotting it as a bona fide malaphor!
This subtle mashup was overhead in a discussion about someone losing an argument. It is a congruent conflation of “backed into a corner” and “back against the wall”, both describing being in a hard-pressed situation. Kudos to Elaine Hatfield for hearing this one.
This one was spotted in the Washington Post. Rep. David Joyce (R-OH) was talking about Speaker Johnson and how he is getting more compfortable in the role as Speaker of the House:
This is a conflation of “have (something) under (one’s) belt” (something learned or mastered) and “get one’s feet under oneself” (finding a sense of stability and balance). A big thank you to Yvonne Stam for spotting this one and sending it in!
This malaphor was spotted on the website crooksandliars.com. Mark Burns, a pastor supporting Donald Trump, called Laura Coates, a CNN legal analyst, a “true slave master” and then said he didn’t care who that offended, remarking that “I don’t give a rat’s crap”:
This is a congruent conflation of “I don’t give a crap” and “I don’t give a rat’s ass”, both meaning to care very little for something. Perhaps combining these two idioms REALLY means you could care less. A big thanks to Ron MacDonald for spotting this one and sending it in.
This beauty was noted in an article in The Athletic. Twenty years ago, after blowing the lead in a critical playoff game for the Minnesota Twins (https://theathletic.com/mlb/team/twins/), Juan Rincón described how he felt (https://nypost.com/2004/10/10/rincon-sets-up-doom/): “Nobody wants to be in my pants right now.” This is a mashup of “wear the pants” (being in charge or in control, usually of a family or household) and “be in (someone’s) shoes” (to share a particular experience with someone else). As my friend Mark Green said, “what a jock”. A tip of the cap to Martin Pietrucha for spotting this one and sending it in!
A couple were watching the Netflix show Griselda, and noticed how Sofia Vergara’s character had a posture that always looked “slunched”. This is a word blend malaphor of “slouched” (standing or sitting in a lazy, drooping way) and “hunched” (bending the top of one’s body forward). Single word blend malaphors are unconscious blends of words to make an unintentional new word. The word sounds or looks correct at first blush, but then on closer examination is incorrect. Examples on this website include “Buckminster Palace” (Buckingham and Westminster, and/or possibly Buckminster Fuller) and “split-minute decision” (split second and last minute). “Wegners” is a recent one (Wegmans and Redner’s, both grocery stores), uttered by Dr. Oz in the last Pennsylvania Senate race.
A big thanks to Kristen Assi for unintentionally saying this one and Anthony Kovacs for sending it in!
This malaphor was found in an article in The Athletic about why professional soccer players can’t strike the ball with both feet:
“Even at the top level, you can see players who are so uncomfortable on their wrong foot that it’s comical,” Zamora says.. “I’m talking about elite players, internationals – you put it onto their wrong foot and they’re like a fish up a tree.”
This is a mashup of “up a tree” (troublesome situation) and “a fish out of water” (one who does not feel comfortable in a new environment). Both idioms fit what the writer is trying to say, and the combo speaks for itself. Certainly a fish up a tree is in trouble AND uncomfortable. Kudos to Martin Pietrucha for spotting this one and sending it in!
Last week I posted an intentional malaphor from the Rick and Morty show, breaking a malaphor rule that the mashup has to have been uttered or written unintentionally. Since I broke that rule, I figured I would break it again with this classic from Seinfeld. George mixes Florence Nightingale and Clara Barton, with Jerry saying of Clara Barton, “I think she was nice.” Here’s the clip:
A big thanks to Martin Pietrucha for hearing this one and sending it in.
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