Carol Roth, author of “You Will Own Nothing”, was being interviewed by Megyn Kelly on The Megan Kelly Show. She’s talking about how the economy has not yet fully recovered, and says at one point, “but it doesn’t mean we’re out of the woodwork yet.”
This is a mashup of “not out of the woods yet” (have not yet escaped the danger) and “coming out of the woodwork” (appear unexpectedly or from unusual places). “Wood” and “out” are in both of the idioms, contributing to the mixup. You can hear the malaphor here:
Neera Tanden, Director of the Domestic Policy Council, was talking with Chris Hayes (All In with Chris Hayes) about how the Democrats finally passed the measure of Medicare being able to negotiate drug prices. With Biden signing the bill, Tanden said “it’s coming to fruit.” This is a congruent conflation of “coming to fruition” and “bearing fruit”, both referring to something starting to succeed and producing the results that were intended. You can hear the malaphor on the podcast at 42:30 here:
On Ari Melber’s MSNBC show “The Beat”, former US attorney David Kelley was talking about Trump’s lawyers’ arguments to set a date for the insurrection trial in 2026. Kelley said that would be “floating a dead balloon”. Given the context, this is a mashup of “floating a trial balloon” (to propose something in order to get feedback on it) and “dead on arrival” (defunct in the very early stages). Of course, the mashup by itself makes sense as Kelley was describing something that was being proposed but was never going to be accepted. A big thanks to Mike Kovacs for hearing this one while at the same time planting a flower!
This one was heard on that malaphor filled show, All In with Chris Hayes. It is a mashup of “trial balloon” (a tentative execution of a plan to gauge the interest or approval of someone else, usually the public) and “acid test” (a decisive trial to determine worth or quality) or perhaps “litmus test” . “Test case” (a legal case which is used as an example for deciding other similar cases) might also be in the mix. The malaphor can be heard here:
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tweeted this about England’s women’s soccer team after they lost a heartbreaker in the finals of the World Cup. He was roundly mocked by his political opponents. See
They just don’t understand the omnipresence of malaphors. This is an incongruent conflation (a blend of opposite meaning idioms) of “leave it all out there” (to give one’s all when playing a game) and “leave nothing to be desired” (unsatisfactory or very inadequate). “Leave nothing to chance” (prepare for everything possible) may also be in the mix, given the PM’s intent here. A big thanks to Nick for catching this one and sending it in!
Ari Melber from MSNBC was interviewing former federal prosecutor Renato Marriotti about Jack Smith. Melber, referring to Marriotti, having been in the same role as Smith, said that Marriotti has “sat in his shoes”. This is a congruent conflation of “stand/walk in (someone’s) shoes” and “sit in someone else’s chair”, both meaning to see or understand things from someone else’s perspective. This one reminds me of the 2017 Malaphor of the Year, “welcome to my shoes”. https://malaphors.com/2017/01/02/welcome-to-my-shoes/ Another tip of the hat to Mike Kovacs for hearing this one and sending it in.
Eugene Robinson on Morning Joe was interviewing Monique Worrell, the Florida Democrat State Attorney who Governor Ron DeSantis removed from office. Robinson then uttered “Ron DeSantis is like a tin hat would-be emperor”. This is a mashup of “tin foil hat” (used when talking about people who believe in conspiracy theories) and “tin-pot dictator” (an autocratic ruler with little political credibility). A “tinhorn” (contemptible person, particularly a person pretending to have money or influence) might also be in the mix, given the context. An interesting tid bit: although still used today, “tin-pot dictator” is a pejorative term coined in the days of the British Empire, when it referred to the Victorian innovation of the tin pot, an inexpensive metal container, the forerunner of the tin can. Though neither the tin-can nor tin pots are used today due to their toxicity, the term is still apt.
A big thank you to Mike Kovacs, celebrated Malaphor Hunter, for hearing this one and sending it in!
Chris Hayes, on the podcast All In with Chris Hayes, was talking about the background of Jeffrey Clark, the former acting assistant attorney general under Donald Trump and who most certainly is “co-conspirator #4” in the Georgia indictment of Trump. It appears around 28:04 on this link:
This is a mashup of “white shoe law firm” (prestigious, well-established law firm) and “white collar crime” (describing generally non-violent crime). Must have been a Freudian slip as Hayes was about to talk about Clark’s involvement in white collar crime. A big thanks to Frank King for spotting this subtle malaphor and sending it in!
A conversation about a project that was half completed but it should not have started in the first place. The speaker said “too bad but the train has left the building”. This is a mashup of “that train has left the station” (option is no longer available) and “Elvis has left the building” (performance or act has ended, or someone has left a place in a dramatic fashion). Both idioms refer to endings. “That train has left the station” has been garbled several times before, as loyal malaphor followers know. Other malaphors include “that train has sailed” and “that bus has sailed”. https://malaphors.com/2015/11/13/that-train-has-sailed/. https://malaphors.com/2023/03/09/that-bus-has-sailed/
“Elvis has left the building” idiom comes from an announcement famously made at the end of Elvis Presley concerts alerting people that he vacated the premises and no further encores would be played.
A big thanks to Andy Jacobs for hearing this one and sending it in!
This one comes from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis:
“If people see that you’re willing to fight for them, if they see that you’re willing to take arrows for them, they will come out and support you,” DeSantis said in a recent speech to the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council conference. “They will be willing to crawl over hot coals barefoot to be able to support you.”
This is a congruent conflation of “walking over hot coals” and “crawling over broken glass”, both meaning to endure a painful experience in order to support or achieve something. I suppose Ron really expects a lot of pain from his supporters. A shout out to Tom Justice for spotting this one and sending it in!
Malaphors 
Recent Comments