We have to keep our finger on the ball
Posted: March 23, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: congruent conflation, expressions, eyes on the ball, finger on the pulse, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words 4 CommentsThis beauty was heard on a conference call by Gary Kelly, a faithful malaphor follower. It is a congruent conflation of “finger on the pulse” and “eyes on the ball”, both involving attention and monitoring something. The mash up also conjures up the image of Lucy keeping her finger on the football and letting go just as Charlie Brown goes to kick it. This is another malaphor mixing body parts, something that seems to happen frequently. A big thanks to Gary Kelly!
He pulled the wool out from under me
Posted: March 21, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, pull the rug out from under him, pull the wool over his eyes, rug, wool, words 1 CommentThis is a classic, perfectly formed malaphor, as it confuses two similar sounding idioms – “pull the wool over his eyes” (to deceive someone) and “pull the rug (out) from under him” (suddently take away help or support from someone). Both phrases have the word “pull” in them, and both have direction – over and under. Also adding to the mix is the combination of wool and rug – a wool rug. A big thanks to the sharp ears of Sam Edelmann, who heard this one and passed it on.
You hate to second judge another cop
Posted: March 13, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Dateline NBC, expressions, humor language, judge, malaphor, malaphors, second guess, words Leave a commentBack to back malaphors from Dateline NBC. This one was heard on the episode “In Broad Daylight”: “You hate to second judge another cop, but there were mistakes made.” This is a mix of “second guess” (predict what someone will do before it is known) and “judge” – not really a mix of two idioms but more like a word blend than a malaprop. A tip of the hat to Laszlo Veres for hearing this one and sending it in!
That’s water over the bridge
Posted: March 12, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, water over the dam, water under the bridge, words Leave a commentSenior Malaphor Hunter Mike Kovacs heard this one on NBC Dateline. He said the following when hearing the mash up: “Hearing it made me leap to grab my phone. (Actually, I didn’t really need to leap; it was within an arm’s length.) And you can quote me on that.” So I am. This malaphor is actually a very commonly spoken one. It is a congruent conflation of “water over the dam” and “water under the bridge”, both meaning to describe something that is over and done with, especially an unfortunate occurrence. The malaphor is very similar to a previous posting, “water under the dam” – see https://malaphors.com/2013/03/06/thats-water-under-the-dam/. Everyone seems to confuse these idioms, considering that one is under and the other is over, one involves dams and the other bridges, and both involve water. My picture doesn’t help matters…. A big thanks to Mike Kovacs for this one!
He’s just an old stick in the poke
Posted: March 10, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, slow poke, stick in the mud, words 2 CommentsThis beauty was uttered in response to someone asking the speaker why her husband didn’t come to a brunch. It is a mash up of “stick in the mud” (dull or old fashioned person) and “slow poke” (slow person). Thanks to Polly McGilvray for sending this one in!
They kept him instead of cutting him free
Posted: March 8, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: basketball, congruent conflation, cut him loose, expressions, Georgetown University, Hoyas, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, set him free, Tyler Adams, words Leave a commentMy wife is a big Georgetown University basketball fan. She was relating a story about Tyler Adams, a huge recruit a few years ago who subsequently was diagnosed with arrhythmia and could not play competitive basketball. Instead of dropping his scholarship, the University gave him a medical waiver. He stayed on the team and earned his degree. My wife said, “they kept him instead of cutting him free.” We looked at each other and realized it was a malaphor moment, and I wrote it down immediately so I wouldn’t forget (the good ones tend to fade away…). This is a congruent conflation of “cutting him loose” and “setting him free”, both meaning to let go. The link contains a very nice story of Adams and his final regular season game as a Hoya:
It went against the grain of salt
Posted: March 6, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: attorneys, expressions, go against the grain, grain of salt, humor language, lawyers, malaphor, malaphors, words 2 CommentsHe’s going for the gold ring
Posted: March 5, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: brass ring, expressions, going for the gold, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, words Leave a commentThis was heard on the tv show, Entertainment Tonight. It is a mash up of “going for the gold” (trying to achieve the best in an endeavor) and “pulling the brass ring” (getting an award or prize). Both involve obtaining an achievement and I can see someone mixing up a brass ring with a gold one. By the way, the term “brass ring”comes from the practice of giving a free ride to the person who succeeded in picking a ring out of a box while riding a merry-go-round. The brass ring goes to Jack Chandler for sending this one in!
You could have knocked me over with a spoon
Posted: March 3, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, gag me with a spoon, humor, knocked me for a loop, knocked me over with a feather, language, malaphor, malaphors, words Leave a commentIn the hospital after her husband’s procedure, the wife was recounting the story of how the doctor gave her some news and she exclaimed, “You could have knocked me over with a spoon!” This is an interesting one, as it mixes I think various sounds and idioms. Certainly the speaker intended to say “you could have knocked me over with a feather” (overcome with astonishment or surprise), and a similar meaning phrase is “knocked me for a loop”. Loop and spoon sound alike, which could have been the confusion. There is also the expression, “gag me with a spoon” (disgusted) which the speaker may have also been thinking about. Interestingly, an internet search of the phrase reveals hundreds of times this malaphor has been used, for example:
A big shout out to Daniel Mustard for sending this one in.
The snow day threw a loop into things
Posted: February 28, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, threw him for a loop, throw a monkey wrench in to the works, words Leave a commentThe speaker was giving a reason for postponing a task. This is a mash up of “throw a monkey wrench into the works” (cause problems for someone’s plans) and “throw (someone) for a loop” (cause surprise or confusion). “Throw” is the common denominator and probably led to the confusion. I must admit I act a little loopy on snow days. Thanks to Marcia Riefer Johnston for sending this one in!
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