I dropped the boat on that one
Posted: December 15, 2014 Filed under: ACTION, ball, boat, drop, THINGS | Tags: dropped the ball, expressions, Hues Corporation, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, missed the boat, rock the boat, words 6 CommentsThis is a terrific congruent conflation of “missed the boat” and “dropped the ball”, both meaning to have made an error or mistake. Maybe the speaker was experiencing an earworm of that 1974 song “Rock the Boat” by the one hit wonder group Hues Corporation. In any event, this double whammy can be used to describe the mother of all mistakes. A big thanks to Marcia Riefer Johnston who sent this one in and is a new malaphor follower. By the way, she has a great website, http://writing.rocks. Check it out!
It’s nothing off his teeth
Posted: December 14, 2014 Filed under: BODY PARTS, tooth | Tags: congruent conflations, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, no skin off my nose, no skin off my teeth, nothing to it, words 2 CommentsThis was overheard recently at a court proceeding. The speaker was stating that something was easy for her client. I believe it is a congruent conflation of “nothing to it”, and “no skin off his teeth (or nose)”, both meaning something that is not difficult. Anyone see another idiom in this malaphor? Certainly it can’t be said after eating a spinach pizza. A big thanks to Sam Edelmann for sending this one in.
My mom won’t be down my butt
Posted: December 10, 2014 Filed under: BODY PARTS, butt, neck | Tags: breathing down my neck, congruent conflations, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, up my butt, words 2 CommentsLet’s hope not. The speaker was referring to her Mom bugging her about something, and was uttered by the Mistress of Malaphors, Naomi David. It is a congruent conflation of “breathing down my neck” and “up my butt”, both expressions meaning to be closely watching or monitoring someone. Again, mixing body parts and directions often produce malaphors.
You have to be on your P’s and Q’s
Posted: December 2, 2014 Filed under: BODY PARTS, toes | Tags: expressions, humor, Ike Taylor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mind your p's and q's, on your toes, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh Steelers, words Leave a commentIke Taylor, a cornerback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, was overheard saying:
“With a future Hall of Fame quarterback like Drew Brees, man, you have to be on your P’s and Q’s. He’s the captain of that team and it showed today. If he sees something, he’s going to hit it. He doesn’t miss a lot. Regardless of how much you feel like you’ve got him rattled, he stays in the pocket. He did what he needed to do today.”
This is an excellent malaphor, mixing “on your toes” (stay alert) and “mind your P’s and Q’s” (pay careful attention to one’s behavior). A big thank you to me for reading this in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
We don’t step on each others’ feathers
Posted: November 24, 2014 Filed under: BODY PARTS, feather, toes | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, ruffle someone's feathers, step on someone's toes, words 1 CommentThis wonderful malaphor comes from Matt Deppe, first time contributor to the site. Last week a friend was trying to explain to him why he and his house mate get along so well. “I guess it works so well because we don’t step on each others’ feathers”. This is a mash up of “step on someone’s toes” (to insult or offend someone) and “ruffle someone’s feathers” (to annoy or irritate someone).
I was pounding the bushes
Posted: November 10, 2014 Filed under: pavement, pound | Tags: beat the bushes, congruent conflation, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, Our Mechanical Brain, pound the pavement, words Leave a commentThis is a wonderful congruent conflation of “beating the bushes” and “pounding the pavement”, both meaning to try very hard to achieve something. As the speaker said, “you’d think the alliteration would help me keep them straight”. I was actually pounding my bushes this weekend trying to dislodge all the leaves that had dropped on them. A big thanks to Peter from the blog “Our Mechanical Brain” for producing this great malaphor and passing it on! Check his blog out at Our Mechanical Brain
The humidity was off the roof
Posted: November 3, 2014 Filed under: PLACES, roof | Tags: Bobo, congruent conflations, expressions, howard stern, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, off the charts, through the roof, words Leave a commentThis nice congruent conflation is a mash up of “off the charts” and “through the roof”, both meaning much more than usual. It was heard on The Howard Stern show, uttered by that long-time caller to the program, Bobo. He was describing the climate in Florida. Many thanks to now Senior Vice President of Malaphors Mike Kovacs for hearing this one on the radio last week and passing it on.
Success is just cream on the cake
Posted: November 2, 2014 Filed under: cake, FOOD | Tags: congruent conflations, cream of the crop, expressions, humor, icing on the cake, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, Sting, Twenty Feet from Stardom, words 3 CommentsThis malaphor, spoken by Sting in the documentary “Twenty Feet from Stardom” (an excellent film by the way), involves the phrases “icing on the cake” (something extra on a successful endeavor) and “cream of the crop” (finest or best). I don’t believe “cream on the cake” is a British expression, but please send me your comments over the pond about this.
It is similar to a previously posted malaphor and the tag for this website, “cream of the cake.” Here is the entire quote from the movie:
“Real musicians, there’s a spiritual component to
what they do…. Success is just cream on the cake.
There’s this idea that you can just go on American
Idol and become a star, but you may bypass the
spiritual… and if you bypass that, then your success
will be wafer-thin.” Sting
Thanks to Barry Eigen for hearing this one and sending it in!
It’s right under my eyes
Posted: October 25, 2014 Filed under: BODY PARTS, eye, nose | Tags: congruent conflations, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, right before your eyes, right under your nose, words 2 CommentsThis subtle, perfectly formed malaphor is a mash up of “right under my nose” and “right before my eyes”, both meaning something obvious and not hidden. This congruent conflation might also seem obviously correct but on reflection it is indeed a malaphor. It is another example of mixed up idioms involving body parts, particularly on the head for some reason. Another big thanks to the Midwest Regional Senior Malaphor Hunter, Mike Kovacs.
I got by by the squeak of my teeth
Posted: October 23, 2014 Filed under: BODY PARTS, tooth | Tags: by the skin of our teeth, congruent conflations, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, squeaked by, squeaky clean, words 2 CommentsThis is a congruent conflation of “by the skin of my teeth” and “squeaked by”, both meaning just barely. My teeth seem to squeak when I rub my fingers over them, particularly after a good dental cleaning, so I can see where the speaker might be confused. The phrase “squeaky clean” used to describe clean teeth (and other things) also comes to mind. All in all, I think this malaphor is an improvement over the idioms noted above, don’t you? A big squeaky clean thank you to Beverly Rollins Sheingorn VanDerhei (now there’s a mouthful!) for sending this one in!
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