Contact
If you hear or see a malaphor, please let me know by dropping a comment on the website. Please include who said it and/or where you heard/saw it.
Malaphors
Unintentional blended idioms and phrases – It's the cream of the cake!
The Malaphor King
"Don't rock the trough"
Recent Comments
 | Pietrucha, Martin T on It’ll knock you on your… |
| Pietrucha, Martin T on Let’s do a White Santa G… |
| Pietrucha, Martin T on Packed to the brim |
| Pietrucha, Martin T on The economy has hit tank … |
Malaphors 
“Pulls at every thread in this house of cards”
(About 3:20 mark) Emily Jashinsky talking about fallout from Billie Eilish’s Grammy comment about “stolen land”. The Tongva tribe has shown evidence that Ms. Eilish’s multi-million dollar home sits on their tribal land.
Seems to be combination of: “pull at a thread” – cause a situation to become unstable, and “house of cards” – unstable situation.
Pull on a thread also means to investigate and expose a secret.
I believe this is a mixed metaphor (string of two or more incompatible metaphors that produce a ridiculous result (eg., this tower of strength will forge ahead) as opposed to a malaphor, which is a blend of two or more idioms or metaphors. I don’t see a blend here.
Two recent ones that we found at work and recorded the white pages in the back of the copy of “He Smokes Like a Fish” we keep handy:”Crying Fire” – a mix of “Crying wolf” and “Yelling fire”. The speaker intended the “Crying wolf” meaning but had a mis-fire.
“Put my shoes in his head” – a mix of “Get in his head” and “walk a mile in his shoes” both phrases meaning to try to understand the way another person is thinking.
These are both excellent. Both unintentionally said, correct? If so, may I post and give you props? Dave
Indeed. Both were unintentional. My unnamed coworker that said the first one was disappointed in himself that something he said landed in the book.Please use them.
Heard at work: “Plant a breadcrumb.” A mix of ‘plant a seed’ and ‘leave a trail of breadcrumbs’.
In a recent interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook, he mentions that the first time he received a note from a customer saying that their life had been saved by an Apple Watch, “It caused me to just stop in my steps.”The correct phrase is “stop in my tracks”, which I think he’s mixing up with “spring in my step” due to the similar construction.
Source: https://www.macrumors.com/2026/04/23/tim-cook-apple-maps-launch-his-really-big-mistake/
I think “take a step back” might be in the conflation as the meaning “to pause” is similar to “stop in my tracks”. Will post! Thanks!!
My daughter was talking about bedazzling pens she saw on YouTube. She said that people can use them to “bedazzle normal-day objects.” 😆
While this is a nice word error (normal for everyday), it really is more of a malaprop or mixed word than a malaphor, since there is not a blend of two idioms that I can figure out (everyday mixed with normal). Dave
I just heard someone say “chip away at the bit” said on the May 11, 2026 episode of the Jocks in Jills podcast, focused on women’s hockey. A mixture of to “chip away at something” and to “champ at the bit”, an oft-misused expression.
This is an excellent one. Will post soon! Thank you,
Dave.
My wife recently said this one—when describing a former couple who were forced to interact with each other soon after breaking up, she said they were “fresh off the heels” of their breakup. A mixup of “hot on the heels of” (to follow something closely) and “fresh off of/fresh out of” (immediately following a phase in one’s life, e.g. “fresh out of college”).
Jason Alexander’s Seinfeld ‘Chinese Restaurant Episode’ Story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVgajGufr6s
“Soar or sink on their own petard”
Jason Alexander explaining how Larry David, Seinfeld’s co-creator, did not want to listen to the suggestions of network executives, feeling they did not understand his vision for the show. He wanted to succeed or fail based on his vision, not that of the network execs.
Seems to be a combination of:
“Soar or sink” – Seems to be a variation reference to “sink or swim”, meaning succeed or fail based solely on one’s own efforts.
“Hoisted on their own petard” meaning ruined or defeated by one’s own actions.