On a conference call involving a complex topic, one of the attendees did not fully understand. He then said to the subject matter expert, “I need to connect with you next week, and I’m gonna want to pick your ear on this”. This is a conflation of “pick (one’s) brain” (ask one questions to obtain detailed information or advice) and “bend (one’s) ear” (to talk to someone for a long time, usually causing them to be annoyed). I can’t help but think that when the speaker said “pick” the idiom “prick up (one’s) ears” (to pay sudden close attention to something) came to mind, creating the jumble. Also, the ear and the brain are in close proximity so it may have been a visual mixup as well.
Caution: ear picking may pose health hazards to the human ear. Please be careful out there.
A big thanks to Andy Jacobs for hearing this one and sending it in!
This one comes from the tv reality series, “Survivor”. Jeff Kent, who was a Major League baseball player, was also a contestant on the show “Survivor: Philippines”. At Tribal Council, there was a discussion about people who could be voted out, and Kent said, “my name has been thrown under the hat”. This appears to be a triple conflation of “throw (one) under the bus” (to harm one through deceit or treachery), “throw (one’s) name around” (to mention casually the name of someone important to impress others), and “throw your hat into the ring” (announce that you will be competing for something).
For you baseball fans, Kent hit 351 home runs as a second baseman, the most in MLB history in either league; he is one of only two second baseman to hit 300 home runs at the position of second base.
A big thanks to Steve Hubbard for hearing this one and sending it in!
The contributor was talking with one of his attorneys about an issue that perhaps could be avoided. The attorney said that if it was addressed in a certain way that “we could sideskirt the issue” in the decision. This is a word blend congruent conflation of “sidestep” and “skirt”, both meaning to attempt to ignore or avoid dealing with something or someone (a big thanks to Jen for pointing out “sidestep” in the blend).
Word blends are types of malaphors and the website and books have many examples.
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) and “split-minute decision” (split second and last minute).
A big thanks to John Kooser for hearing this one and sending it in!
The submitter’s wife was talking about one of her friends who was “giving her the cold finger”. This is a mashup of “give (one) the finger” (to treat one poorly or display contempt for someone) and “give someone the cold shoulder” (to snub someone). The “cold finger” might be the ultimate snub. A big thanks to Jim Weil for sending this one in!
This is a conflation of “something to prove” (need to display and confirm one’s abilities to others who are doubtful) and “have a chip on (one’s) shoulder” (have an attitude or sensitive about something that happened in the past). Reminds me of the Animal House movie scene where Pinto has the devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. A big shout out to John Costello for spotting this one and sending it in. As he said, a nice way to start the football season!
On the podcast “All In with Chris Hayes”, Hayes is talking about Kamala Harris’ campaign for President. You can hear him saying “this campaign has shot out of a rocket” at 25:20 in the podcast:
This is a congruent conflation of “take off like a rocket” and “shot out of a cannon”, both meaning something or someone moving rapidly into some position or status. It’s a nice mix of weaponry. A big thanks to Frank King for hearing this one and sending it in!
This is another beauty from The New York Times. Here’s the quote: “What exactly would a President Harris do? That question was not on the top of the tongues of many delegates this week.”
This is a mashup of “on the tip of (one’s) tongue” (almost able to be recalled) and “off the top of (one’s) head” (from memory or without much consideration). “On the top of (one’s) list” might also be in the mix given the context. “Top of mind” was suggested by Yvonne Stam as part of the mix, and certainly seems so as it fits with the story. Another salute to Barry Eigen for spotting this one and sending it in.
On MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Symone Sanders-Townsend, former counsel to the Vice President of the United States, was talking about Kamala Harris, and said “she’s painting her story”. This is a congruent conflation of “painting a picture” and “telling (one’s) story”, both meaning to giving an elaborate or detailed description of something or someone. Kudos to Mike Kovacs for hearing this one and sending it in!
This one comes from Peter Baker of The New York Times. His article was discussing Michelle Obama’s speech at the Democratic Convention: “From the minute she entered to Stevie Wonder to the end when she introduced her husband, she had the hall wrapped in her hand.” This is a congruent conflation of “in the palm of her hand” and “wrapped around her little finger”, both meaning to have complete control over someone or something. This is a classic body parts mashup: in this case fingers and hands are the culprits. Here’s the article:
John Shumway, a morning news anchor on KDKA in Pittsburgh was discussing a study showing that eating red meat is linked with a diabetes risk. He then said that’s too bad as he really likes red meat, exclaiming “show me the beef!” This is a congruent conflation of the phrases “show me the money” and “where’s the beef?”, both meaning to see evidence of value.
“Show me the money” is a catchphrase from the 1996 movie Jerry Maguire. In the movie, Cuba Gooding Jr.’s character, Rod Tidwell, says the line to Tom Cruise’s character, Jerry Maguire, in an attempt to keep Maguire as his only remaining client. The line is part of a mantra that represents the bond between the two characters.
“Where’s the beef?” is a catchphrase in the United States and Canada, introduced as a slogan for the fast food chain Wendy’s in 1984. Since then it has become an all-purpose phrase questioning the substance of an idea, event, or product. In the ad, titled “Fluffy Bun”, actress Clara Peller receives a burger with a massive bun but a tiny patty from a fictional competitor, which uses the slogan “Home of the Big Bun”. The small patty prompts Peller angrily to exclaim, “Where’s the beef?” Director Joe Sedelmaier actually wanted Peller to say, “Where is all the beef?” but because of emphysema, that was too hard for her.
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