Orlando Magic player, Jonathan Isaac, was interviewed on the Rubin Report about his new clothing line, Unitus, and mentioned that Riley Gaines is going to be a brand ambassador. Here’s the relevant excerpt:
Um, she’s not swimming anymore, but she’s a, she’s a, she’s a firehouse, um, for what
she’s stood for and been able to do in women’s sports and looking forward to seeing
her kind of career and speaking and everything like that take off
Firehouse is a single word blend malaphor of “powerhouse” (a person of great energy, strength, or power) and “firebrand” (a passionate person who invokes change in a particular cause). A big thanks to Verbatim for catching this one and sending it in!
This one might be understood by only those over fifty years old. A couple were talking about driving to a fairly congested shopping area and the husband said they would be going “dead smack in the middle of rush hour”. This is a congruent conflation of “dead center” and smack dab in the middle”, both meaning right in the middle or most central part of something. The latter idiom is a bit old-fashioned, but is the title of a great Ry Cooder song, Here it is:
A big thanks to John Kooser for uttering this one and sending it in! Enjoy Ry everyone!
This one comes from an article in the NY Times, regarding Chris Sununu, Governor of New Hampshire:
“Although broadly popular, Mr. Sununu is not beloved in New Hampshire’s conservative circles. His anti-Trump mission will do nothing to improve this. ‘I think Sununu is trying to dance the same tightrope I am and a lot of us are: being very forceful about the fact that we need a new nominee and yet trying not to take too big of a dump on the former president,’ said Jason Osborne . . . https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/30/opinion/donald-trump-new-hampshire.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
This is a mashup of “dance around the issue” (to avoid discussing something or dealing with it directly) and “walk a tightrope” (a situation where someone must be very cautious). “Dance to (one’s) tune” (to go along with someone else’s views or wishes) might also be in the mix given the context. A big thanks to Barry Eigen for spotting this one and sending it in!
Found in an article in The Daily Beast. Representative Paul Gosar (R-AZ) was talking about the feud between Lauren Goebert and Marjorie Taylor-Greene:
Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) compared Greene and Boebert’s battle to that of a “two-way sword.”
“I just think that whatever is there, could be utilized both ways,” he said, adding that “people make decisions that they have to work and live by, and you kind of hate being in their shoes.”
This is a mashup of “double-edged sword” (something that can be both beneficial and problematic) and “two-way street” (a situation where both sides must put forth an equal amount of effort to get a desired result). The reason for the mixup is obvious: “double” means “two”. Also, the two expressions are close in meaning. A big thanks to Frank King for spotting this one.
Alex Sherman, media reporter for CNBC, was commenting on MSNBC’s 11th Hour about the actor and writer strikes and how Disney CEO Iger and other studio execs have been ineffective in their response. This is a congruent conflation of “toss in the towel” and “wave the white flag”, both meaning to give up on an endeavor. The speaker may have been thinking of a football line judge throwing a penalty flag, or color guard flag tosses?
A big thank you to Bruce Ryan and Jim Kozlowski who heard this one and sent it in within minutes of each other.
The state of Florida’s National Guard has been undergoing changes, including becoming more of a militia and some have quit as a result. One former member said he did not think Governor DeSantis was even aware of the changes, stating that “I don’t think it’s a fly on his radar right now.” This is a conflation of “a fly on the wall” (an unnoticed observer of a particular situation) and “be on the radar (screen)” (be important or noteworthy). Here is the link:
During lunch, a colleague of the contributor said he saw a name on a list and said “that name clicks a bell”. This is a nice congruent conflation of “clicks” and “rings a bell”, both meaning to understand or remember something or someone, although the latter is to remind you of something but not remember exactly what it is. A tip of the hat to Martin Pietrucha for hearing this one, clicking the bell, and sending it in.
On MSNBC’s Alex Wagner Tonight, former CIA director was talking about his concern over action Donald Trump might take against his critics if elected in 2024. This is a mash up of ” depths to which (one) has sunk” (at a low point) and “lengths to which one will go” (try very hard to achieve something). The speaker may have been thinking of dark places. A big thanks to Mike Kovacs for hearing this one and sending it in!
A couple were talking about a law school grad who could not get a job with a big firm. The wife said, “she opened her own shingle.” This is a congruent conflation of “hang out (one’s) shingle” and “open (one’s) business”, both meaning to open an offfice for one’s practice. Or maybe the grad became a roofer? A big thank you to David Barnes for hearing this one (at the “Friday evening glass of wine” time) and sending it in.
This one was heard on the podcast Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, and uttered by Jamelle Bouie, columnist for the New York Times. They were talking about the Supreme Court and its current rulings that are highly political in nature, and on ethic issues swirling around the Court at this time. This is a congruent conflation of “does not hold water” and ” does not pass muster”, both referring to something that does not seem to be reasonable or true. I have posted other excellent malaphors involving “muster”, including “it cleared muster”, “it does not withstand muster”, and the classic “it doesn’t pass the mustard”. See, e.g, https://malaphors.com/2018/07/17/he-cleared-muster/.
For those interested, you can hear this malaphor at the 20:05 mark:
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