Are they sitting on their tongues?
Posted: May 5, 2021 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Chris Cuomo Leave a commentOn CNN’s Prime Time with Chris Cuomo (May 3, 2021), Rick Santorum was responding to Charlie Dent regarding Republicans unwilling to cross Trump:
SANTORUM: –with all due respect, Charlie, I agree with you that there are many in this party, and I think it’s sad that there are many in this party, that have sort of a cult of personality attraction to Donald Trump, and they get a lot of play on the national media.
But I can tell you that the vast majority of Republicans, in the House and Senate, don’t have that personal connection to Donald Trump. But they are very, very much afraid about what’s going to happen here in the next couple of years, if Republicans don’t get control of the House of Representatives in 2022.
And what they don’t want is a civil war, where Donald Trump is splitting off and running candidates every – in every single election, dividing Republicans, and causing a victory for the Democrats, in 2022, which they think the consequences, not just politically, but more importantly, for the future of the country are dire.
So yes are they sitting on their tongues, and they’re – they’re not – they’re not going after Donald Trump. But they’re trying – what they’re trying to do is, what Kevin McCarthy and leadership has been trying to do is walk the razor’s edge of trying to hold the party together, and to see – so we can stop this march toward socialism that Joe Biden has put us on.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/2105/03/CPT.01.html
This is a beautiful mashup of “sitting on (one’s) hands” (to refrain from acting or helping) and “biting (one’s) tongue” (to struggle not to say something that you really want to say). The visual of this is a good one. This malaphor reminds me of one of The Master’s best (see my first book, “He Smokes Like a Fish and Other Malaphors” for an introduction to and discussion of The Master). He was talking about a situation where a few people were waiting to see if they received a promotion, and described them as “sitting on their hands and needles”.
A big shout out to Jim “Koz” Kozlowski for hearing this gem and passing it on!
I blew my hand
Posted: May 3, 2021 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentThis was uttered by the Queen of Malaphors, Naomi David. She wanted to say “blew my chances” (ruin or miss an opportunity) but was also thinking of “show my hand” (to reveal one’s intentions to someone) at the same time. “Force my hand” (to push someone to do something that one is not inclined to do) might also have been in the mix. A big thanks to Katie Norwood for reporting this one and of course Ms. David for unintentionally blurting it out.
Did you like this one? If so, check out my two collections of malaphors, “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors” and “Things Are Not Rosy-Dory”. Both are available on Amazon and are cheap! Great bathroom reads!
Are you putting a stake in the sand?
Posted: April 21, 2021 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: shark tank Leave a commentOn the ABC show “Shark Tank”, Kevin “Mr. Wonderful” O’Leary asked his colleague Lori Greiner if she was delivering an ultimatum in their negotiations for an investment in a participant’s business. This is a conflation of “a stake in the ground” (to take a first step to get something started) and “a line in the sand” (a point in which one will not go or budge). Maybe the investment was property in Florida? A big thanks to Mike Kovacs for hearing this one and sending it in.
Stir the water
Posted: April 16, 2021 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentYeardley Smith, host of the true crime podcast “Small Town Dicks”, was referring to a crime victim’s unwillingness to confront her boyfriend and that “she didn’t want to stir the water.” This is a nice mashup of “stir the pot” (exacerbate a tense or otherwise difficult situation) and “muddy the water(s)” (introduce something, usually information, that makes a situation less clear). Pots usually contain water, and we often stir them, so the speaker may have had that image in her mind. By the way, Ms. Smith is also known as the voice of Lisa Simpson on the great tv show “The Simpsons”.
A big shout out to Vicki Ameel Kovacs for hearing this one.
He put the dots together
Posted: April 9, 2021 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentThis was heard on the true crime podcast “The Murder Squad”. The host, Billy Jensen, was talking about how a detective was able to solve a cold case. The malaphor is a congruent conflation of “piece together” and “connect the dots”, both meaning to understand something by analyzing and putting together bits of information to reveal something hidden. This one will be added to my “dots collection”, malaphors that contain the word “dot”. Just type in the word “dot” in the search engine on the website to see some the others. A tip of the toque to Mike Kovacs for hearing this one and sending it in.
That rubs a nerve with some people
Posted: April 6, 2021 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentTamron Hall was interviewing Paulina Porizkova on her show, and they were discussing the backlash created by Paulina modeling lingerie in her 50s. Tamron then said, “that rubs a nerve with some people”. Catch it at the 18 second mark:
This is a congruent conflation of “rub (someone) the wrong way” and “touches a (raw) nerve”, both meaning to irritate someone or evoke a strong emotion. On the other hand, perhaps Tamron was uttering a Freudian slip or euphemism when discussing one’s reaction to Paulina in lingerie.
A big thank you to Mike Kovacs for spotting this one and sending it in!
Leaving him out to dry
Posted: April 3, 2021 Filed under: Uncategorized 2 CommentsThis malaphor was uttered by Mehdi Hasan, who was subbing for Chris Hayes on MSNBC’s show “All In with Chris Hayes”. Indicating what was going to be discussed that night, Hasan said this at the beginning of the April 1 show:
“Plus, the latest on the Matt Gaetz investigation and the Republicans leaving him out to dry.”
This is a congruent conflation of “hang (one) out to dry” and “leave (someone) high and dry”, both meaning to desert or leave one in a troubling situation. “Dry” is the shared word here, contributing to the mashup. Also “hang” and “leave” are juxtaposed, causing more confusion. Of course, maybe Hasan is actually indicating Gaetz is a wet mess and a little sunshine would do him good. A big thanks to Frank King for hearing this one and passing it on!
Leading the helm
Posted: March 31, 2021 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentRep. Joe Neguse (D – CO) appeared on MSNBC’s “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell”, discussing the Boulder mass shooting. During the discussion on the possiblity of the U.S. instituting stricter gun control laws, Neguse said it is possible “now with President Joe Biden leading the helm”. This is a congruent conflation of “leading the charge” and “taking the helm”, both meaning to become the leader of something. A tip of the hat to Mike Kovacs who heard this CCC (classic congruent conflation) and sent it in!
Lifesend
Posted: March 24, 2021 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: humor, idioms, language, words Leave a commentThis excellent word blend malaphor was spotted in a New York Times interview of Bernie Sanders. Here’s the context:
“But in this legislation, let us be clear we have gotten for a family of four — a working-class family struggling to put food on the table for their kids — a check of $5,600. Now people who have money may not think that’s a lot of money. But when you are struggling day and night to pay the bills, to worry about eviction, that is going to be a lifesend for millions and millions of people.”
This is a congruent conflation of “godsend” and “lifesaver”, both referring to a very helpful or valuable event, person, or thing. As I have noted in past posts, malaphors are usually unintentional idiom blends, but they can also be an unintentional blend of two or more words. I have many examples in my first book, “He Smokes Like a Fish and Other Malaphors”, available on Amazon.
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 include “Buckminster Palace” (Buckingham and Westminster, and/or possibly Buckminster Fuller) “split-minute decision” (split second and last minute), and the one submitted today, lifesend.
A big thank you to Ann Hodges Lynn for spotting this one and sending it in!
This is the first step in the water
Posted: March 20, 2021 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: humor, language, malaphor, words Leave a commentSalt Lake City mayor Erin Mendenhall was describing the reopening of the public libraries and uttered this nice malaphor. It is a conflation of “the first step” (first in a series of actions), “the first step is always the hardest” (starting is the most difficult part of any task) and “dip a toe in the water” (to tentatively begin a new experience). Steps and toes go together and so does this nice mashup. A big thanks to Kathy Shand for hearing this one and sending it in!
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