I’m not a poor loser
Posted: January 15, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, language, malaphor, poor sport, sore loser, words Leave a commentYours truly uttered this one in a conversation about a current losing streak in trivia. It is a congruent conflation of “sore loser” and “poor sport”, both describing a person who reacts negatively in a competition. “Poor” and “sore” are similar sounding words, contributing to the mashup. A big thanks to Elaine Hatfield for calling me out on this one.
You hit it right on the point
Posted: January 13, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Andy Brenner, CNBC, expressions, hit the nail on the head, humor, malaphor, On Point, Rick Santelli, words Leave a commentThis one was uttered by Andy Brenner (National Alliance Securities) on CNBC, referring to a comment made by Rick Santelli. It is a congruent conflation of “hit the nail on the head” and “on point”. both meaning to be exactly right, accurate, or perfect. Nails have points so the mental hiccup occurred with that visual, presumably. A big thanks to big brother John Hatfield for hearing this one and sending it in. #RickSantelli #CNBC
People could be throwing risk to the wind
Posted: January 10, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: humor, idiomi, Jeremy Siegel, language, malaphor, Market Watch, run a risk, take a risk, throw caution to the wind, Wharton Leave a commentJeremy Siegel, professor of finance at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, expressed what he perceives as one of the biggest market risks in 2020, in an interview with Barron’s Group’s Market Brief, which aired on Monday. Here’s the whole sentence: “Actually, one of the dangers is that people could be throwing risk to the wind and this thing could be a runaway.” And here’s the source: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/man-who-called-dow-20000-says-one-of-the-biggest-stock-market-dangers-in-2020-is-people-could-be-throwing-risk-to-the-wind-2020-01-06. This is a nice mashup of “throwing caution to the wind” (abandon one’s cautiousness in order to take a risk) and “taking (or running) a risk” (do something with a high probability of a negative outcome). A big thanks to Barry Eigen for spotting this one and sending it in. #JeremySiegel
That ought to hit the ticket
Posted: January 9, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, hit the mark, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, punch one's ticket, words Leave a commentThis was said, referring to something that should be successful. It is a congruent conflation of “hit the mark” and “punch (one’s) ticket”, both meaning an action that leads to success (the latter to a promotion usually). Hit the ticket has a nice ring to it. A big thanks to Martin Pietrucha for texting this one and realizing it was a malaphor.
I know the material off the back of my hand
Posted: January 6, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, like the back of my hand, malaphor, off the top of my head, words Leave a commentA daughter was telling her father about a recent test. This is a mashup of “know it like the back of my hand” (extremely familiar with something) and “off the top of my head” (from memory without careful consideration). Either this is a malaphor or maybe she actually had the materials written on her hand? A big thanks to John Kooser for hearing this one.
A lot of Senators have reserved their fire
Posted: January 4, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, hold your fire, humor, idioms, Jonathan Alleno, malaphor, reserve judgment, words Leave a comment
You put your finger on the nail
Posted: January 2, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, language, malaphor, words, you hit the nail on the head, you nailed it, you put your finger on it Leave a comment2020 has started off on the right foot, malaphor wise. On New Year’s Day, Christiane Amanpour said this beauty on CNN’s “New Day”. Let’s go to the transcript:
http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/2001/01/nday.04.html
It is a congruent conflation of “put your finger on it” and hit the nail on the head” (and “nailed it”), all meaning to describe a situation or problem exactly. The speaker might have been thinking of fingernails when she uttered this one. A big thanks to Ruth Dilts for nailing this one. @camanpour @NewDay
2019 Malaphor of the Year!
Posted: December 31, 2019 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentThe countdown is over. It’s now time to reveal this year’s Malaphor of the Year. But before I unveil this masterpiece, here are the winners of past years:
2015 – I have a pulse to the ground (Trumpaphor when he was on the campaign trail)
2016 – Let’s give them a round of hand! (submitted by Martin Pietrucha)
2017 – Welcome to my shoes (submitted by Steve Kovacs)
2018 – Whatever turns your boat (submitted by John Kooser)
This year’s winner combines an old and a new phrase, and just has a nice ring to it. It was submitted last January by John Fischer. Happy New Year!
My old car shit the bucket
Maggie Acker uttered this beauty when talking about her car that stopped running. It is a congruent conflation of “kicked the bucket” and “shit the bed”, both idioms referring to something or someone that died or failed. “Shit the bed” is a relatively new idiom (I found it in the Wiktionary – https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shit_the_bed ). It usually refers to something that breaks and can’t be repaired, like a cell phone. Interestingly, in the U.K, it means to express surprise. The mental mix up probably also was caused by the similar sounding words “kick” and “shit”. A big, big thanks to John Fischer who heard this one and passed it on.
2019 Malaphor of the year – Number 2
Posted: December 30, 2019 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentEverything’s peachy-dory
Number 2 is another Trumpaphor, posted back in January. Let’s go to the transcript:
THE PRESIDENT: Well, the news incorrectly reported. Because I said, well, if we go back and everything is peachy- dory, and you say, “We’ll talk over 30 days,” at the end of 30 days, are you going to give us great border security, which includes a wall or a steel barrier.
This is a mash up of the expressions peachy keen and hunky-dory, both meaning fine or satisfactory. This seems to be a fairly common malaphor, based on internet hits. Now hunky keen is a different matter….Several of you caught this one, including Steve Grieme and Mike Kovacs, both expert malaphor hunters.
2019 Malaphor of the Year – Number 3
Posted: December 30, 2019 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentThis one submitted just a few weeks ago struck me as a perfectly formed malaphor and so it comes in at number 3 this year.
He’s on a thin leash
This beauty was uttered by someone who was asked if he thought the Cowboys’ football coach, Jason Garrett, would be fired soon. It is a mashup of “on thin ice” (close to being in trouble) and “on a tight leash” (strict control over someone). The words “thin” and “tight” are close in sound and meaning. A big thanks to John Kooser who heard this one and passed it on!
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