He’s laid down a line

Posted: September 19, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
Harry Litman was discussing Trump on MSNBC and uttered this nice malaphor.  It is a mash up of “lay down the law” (give an order or directive) and “draw a line” (to set a boundary). “Lay”, “line”, and “law” all seem to be part of the scramble here.  Mr. Litman has been the subject of a previous malaphor (“take no quarter”  https://malaphors.com/2018/04/13/take-no-quarter/) and was very good natured about it.  A true Pittsburgher, full of grace!  A big thanks to Frank King for hearing this one and sending it in.

It struck a heart string with many

Posted: September 17, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This beauty comes from a Fox News article about Wendy’s employees making a blind couple’s eating experience a good one.  The article states that “it struck a heart string with many.”  This is a congruent conflation of “strike a chord” and “tug at (one’s) heart strings”, both meaning to elicit a strong emotional response to something.  “Tugging” and “striking” are action words touching something and are probably the source of the mix up.  Certainly one can make “chords” with “strings”, and perhaps the author was thinking of “cords” instead of “chords” as cords are strings.  This is a classic malaphor.  A big thanks to Margaret Grover for spotting this one and sending it in.

I have heard my malaphor book, “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors”, available on Amazon, has struck many a heart string.  You can get it now for a cheap $6.99 (normally $7.99). https://www.amazon.com/dp/0692652205

 

You need to put your ducks in one basket

Posted: September 13, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This one was overheard at a business meeting.  It is a nice conflation of “get your ducks in a row” (get well-organized) and “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” (don’t risk everything on one venture).  Idioms containing the words eggs, ducks, or baskets seem to get commonly jumbled.  Type any one of these words in the search and you will find many postings on the subjects.  A big thanks to John Hatfield III for hearing this one and sending it in.

They want to take me to bat

Posted: September 12, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

During an interview on MSNBC on Sunday, 9/9/18, Omarosa Manigault Newman uttered this mix up.  It is a mash up of “take me to task (scold or reprimand) and I believe, given the context, “bat for the other team” (to support, secretly or openly, the opposing side of a given contest or debate).  “Bat around” (hit something around) might also be in the mix, again given the context.  A big thanks to Bob Smith for hearing this one and sending it in.

 

I am willing to eat my crow

Posted: September 10, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Following up on yesterday’s malaphor, this one also was heard on the Pittsburgh sports radio call in show, 93.7 The Fan.  This one was uttered by sports commentator and analyst Josh Taylor, who was saying that at the beginning of the season he thought the Pirates starting pitchers were not going to be good enough.  He admitted he was wrong, and then said this nice congruent conflation of “eat crow”, and “eat my words”, both meaning to confess being wrong about a prediction.  “Eat” is in both idioms which produced no doubt the mashup.  “I’ll eat my hat” must also be in the mix (thanks “my ol’ pal”!), as Josh made a prediction that he had to admit later was wrong.  Eating one’s hat is the result.  Then again, eating one’s own crow might really be admitting error.   A big thanks once again to John Kooser for hearing this one and passing it on!

If you want to predict something right, buy the book on malaphors, “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors”, available on Amazon.  You’ll be eating high off the hog, with no crow.

He was sleeping on the switch

Posted: September 9, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

On a Pittsburgh sports radio call-in show called The Fan, Ron Cook (an excellent Pittsburgh Post Gazette Sports writer and sports show commentator) hung up on a caller who did not answer in time.   He then said the caller was “sleeping on the switch”.   This is a congruent conflation of “asleep at the switch” and “sleeping on the job”, both meaning to be inattentive.  “Asleep at the wheel” might also be in play, but I doubt it as the mix up is with the prepositions “at” and “on”.  A big thanks to John Kooser who was certainly not sleeping on the switch when he heard this one.

The cart’s out of the barn. You can’t put it back in the bottle.

Posted: September 8, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

This multi-faceted malaphor was uttered by Sam Stein, Politics Editor of The Daily Beast.  He was discussing Trump’s inadvertent confessions.  This is a three way malaphor, mashing up “the cat’s out of the bag” (the secret has been made known), “closing the barn door after the horse has bolted” (trying to prevent a problem after the damage has been done),  and “can’t put the genie back in the bottle” (can’t go back to the state you were in before an important change happened).  Cats and carts sound alike, contributing to the confusion.  All three idioms describe a situation where something has changed and it cannot be reversed.  So, all three are appropriate in context, but perhaps not jumbled together.  A big thanks to Ron MacDonald for hearing this gem.

It sent shivers up my skin

Posted: September 4, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The submitter was out with some friends for dinner when this was suddenly uttered.  An instant malaphor alert went off.  This is a nice, alliterative congruent conflation (best kind of malaphor, imho) of “send shivers up (one’s) spine” and “makes (one’s) skin crawl”, both meaning to cause to feel frightened or unnerved.  Spine and skin are mixed here, and the visual of shivers crawling.  Certainly your skin shivers when you’re cold, so the mixup is quite expected.  A big thank you to Steve Grieme for hearing this one and passing it on!

I want to get the elephant out of the room

Posted: September 3, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
This was uttered in a general session meeting at a conference.  The speaker was trying to raise an issue that was well-known to all but was avoided in discussion.  I believe it is a mashup of “the elephant in the room” (a serious problem that everyone is aware of but choose not to mention) and “out in the open” (expose something for public knowledge).  The beauty of this malaphor is that it contains idioms that are opposites: one exposing something that is hidden and the other keeping something hidden that should be exposed.  “Out on the table” might also be in the mix.
As any loyal malaphors.com follower knows, idioms involving elephants are frequently mixed.  Type in “elephant” and see the many posts.  There is also a chapter in my book, “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors” (Amazon) devoted to elephants.  A big thanks to John Costello for hearing this one and sharing it.  Also a big thanks to Cheryl Rosato for her “elephant in the room” drawing and for illustrating the malaphor book!

lumps in the ointment

Posted: September 2, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rachel Maddow said this one when she was describing Don McGahn’s cooperation with the Special Counsel in an effort to avoid John Dean’s fate. Basically she was saying that McGahn was not the apparent hero he seems because of his apparently selfless cooperation, and that there were a few “lumps in the ointment.”  This is a mashup of “lumps in the gravy” (problems or stumbling blocks) and “fly in the ointment” (flaw that detracts from something positive) l  up of Lumps in the gravy, flies in the ointment.  “Take (one’s) lumps” (to accept the punishment one deserves) might also be in the mix (or should I say gravy?).  And then again, maybe Rachel was thinking of Frank Zappa…..

A big thanks to “my ol’ pal” Beatrice Zablocki for hearing this one and sending it in!

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →