Up to state

This one was heard on a recent House Hunters episode on HGTV. The real estate agent asked the potential homebuyer what kind of home she was looking for. Her response was, “Up to state, modern.” This is a congruent conflation of “up to date” and “state of the art”, both meaning to use the most current techniques and technology. “Date” and “state” rhyme so it looks and sounds like a malaprop, but on closer inspection it is indeed a blend of two idioms, qualifying as a malaphor. A big thanks to Fandango for hearing this one and sending it in!

Sharpening the bar

Alex Marquardt on CNN reported that Gov. DeSantis, a GOP presidential candidate, was “sharpening the bar” in his campaign. It was in reference to a possible DeSantis vs Newsome showdown. It left the impression that DeSantis was both sharpening his knives and raising the bar with respect to his political attacks. It is indeed a mashup of “raising the bar” (raise the standards of quality that are expected) and “sharpen the knives” (make better or improve).

A big thanks to John Davis for hearing this one and passing it on!

He was on a thin line

Following the news that Bob Huggins, the West Virginia University basketball coach, resigned in the wake of a DUI arrest, someone called “Kakarot” tweeted the following:

“Called it. But ppl knew he was on a thin line anyways”

That is a congruent conflation of “walking a fine line” and “on thin ice”, both referring to a precarious or risky situation. “On a tight leash” (under someone’s strict control) may also have been in the writer’s mind, given the context. My guess is that Huggins did indeed attempt to walk a thin line when going through the field sobriety exercise that night in Pittsburgh. “Anyways” is a nice bonus here as it is a common word in Western Pennsylvania. Props to Mike Browning for spotting this beauty.

We’re in unprecedented territory

2 minutes 35 seconds into the “All in with Chris Hayes” podcast, Jen Psaki utters this nice congruent conflation of “uncharted territory/waters” and “unprecedented times”, both referring to new areas or situations never explored before. Here’s the link:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/all-in-with-chris-hayes/id1314170606?i=1000615798114

Kudos to Frank King for hearing this one and sending it in!

He wasn’t even on her register

Some college friends were reminiscing, talking about buying condoms from McLanahan’s, a classic Penn State establishment. One of the friend’s little sister was the lone cashier in the store, and the other friend who purchased one was mortified that she sold condoms at that age. Her sister then said, “she sold condoms to half the students at Penn State, so you weren’t even on her register.” This is a congruent conflation of “not on (one’s) radar” and “did not register”, both referring to something or someone not important or noteworthy. There is a pun there as well, as the speaker may have been thinking of a cash register as her little sister was a cashier. A big thanks to Adam Jacob for hearing this one and sending it in.

flex their influence

This malaphor was found in the USA Today:

“But there are senators on both sides of the aisle who have taken issue with parts of the Biden-McCarthy deal who will want to flex their influence even as the country tiptoes to an unprecedented financial cliff.” https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/06/01/schumer-mcconnell-senate-debt-deal-what-to-know/70274076007/

This is a congruent conflation of “flex (one’s) muscles” and “use (one’s) influence”, both meaning to demonstrate one’s influence or strength. Kudos to Barry Eigen for spotting this one and sending it in.

Megahorn

Today’s malaphor is a word blend. The speaker was talking about proclaiming something loudly and in public, and said he would use a “megahorn”. This is a single word congruent conflation of “bullhorn” and megaphone”, both devices used to amplify the sound of the voice so it can be heard at a distance.

As many of you know who follow this blog, a malaphor is usually an unintentional blend of two or more idioms. But occasionally one utters a word blend malaphor, a blend of two words. Slam-packed is a good example.

Someone asked me if my word blend malaphors are actually portmanteaus. I don’t think so. The main difference is that a portmanteau is an intentional word blend while a malaphor is unintentional.  There are other differences:

A portmanteau is a combination of two (or more) words or morphemes, and their definitions, into one new word. A portmanteau word generally combines both sounds and meanings, as in smog, coined by blending smoke and fog. More generally, it may refer to any term or phrase that combines two or more meanings, for instance, the term “wurly” when describing hair that is both wavy and curly.

The word “portmanteau” was first used in this context by Lewis Carroll in the book Through the Looking-Glass (1871), in which Humpty Dumpty explains to Alice the coinage of the unusual words in Jabberwocky, where “slithy” means “lithe and slimy” and “mimsy” is “flimsy and miserable”. Humpty Dumpty explains the practice of combining words in various ways by telling Alice,

‘You see it’s like a portmanteau—there are two meanings packed up into one word.’

My 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 my website are “Buckminster Palace” (Buckingham and Westminster, and/or possibly Buckminster Fuller) and “split-minute decision” (split second and last minute). There are many others. Slam-packed is a great addition.

A shout out (through a bullphone) to Mike Kovacs for uttering this one accidentally and immediately recognizing it as a bona fide malaphor. As for the accompanying picture, perhaps Mike collects Pokemon cards?

We have to kick it into overtime

On the HGTV show “100 day beachfront hotel”, this malaphor appears in episode 2 at 20:20. Mika Kleinschmidt, the Tampa realtor and star of the reality show, says “we have to kick it into overtime.” This is a congruent conflation of “kick it into overdrive” and “working overtime”, both phrases meaning to work very hard to achieve something. Obviously the words “overdrive” and “overtime” sound and look similar, almost making this a malaprop. However, there are definitely two idioms/phrases mixed up here, making it a perfect, subtle malaphor. A big thanks to Yvonne Stam for hearing this one and sending it in!

Running around like chickens tearing our hair out

At a conference, the speaker said, “if it was easy, we wouldn’t be running around like chickens tearing our hair out.” This is a mashup of “run around like a chicken with its head cut off” (run around frantically; to be in a state of chaos) and “tear (one’s) hair out” (to be extremely worried or stressed about something). Both phrases describe a stressful situation and the speaker may have been confusing “head” and “hair”. Anyway, makes a very nice visual. A big thanks to Marcia Johnston for hearing this one and sending it in.

On the tip of my brain

A jazz pianist performing a song was struggling to recall a name and said this nice malaphor. It is a congruent conflation of “on the tip of (one’s) tongue” and “rack (one’s) brain”, both meaning to struggle to recall or think of something. “On the brain” (obsessively) might also be in the mix, as the performer was obsessed with trying to remember a name. Perhaps “back of (one’s) mind” (referring to something one thinks of but with little conscious reflection) was also in the speaker’s thoughts. Kudos to Dan Geier for hearing this one and sending it in!