He broke the scoop
Posted: May 21, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: break the story, expressions, get the scoop, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, Rachel Maddow, Trump, words Leave a commentRachel Maddow uttered this malaphor the other night, talking about Ronan Farrow’s latest scoop. It is a mashup of “get the scoop” (get the news) and “break the story” (the first to address an issue, usually news). Since “the scoop” is usually the news, this fractured saying makes some sense. It also has a little assonance to it, so to speak. Another thank you to Frank King for sharing this one.
He’s bald as a bat
Posted: May 19, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bald as a coot, blind as a bat, humor, idioms, malaphor, words Leave a commentA work colleague was attempting to describe why a helmet might feel uncomfortable for a customer, saying “Admittedly he’s bald as a bat. This is a nice mashup of “bald as a coot (or cue ball)” (completely bald) and “blind as a bat” (having poor vision). I like the alliteration here but bats indeed have hair. Coots are not bald either. Coots have prominent frontal shields or other decoration on the forehead, with red to dark red eyes and coloured bills. Many, but not all, have white on the under tail. The featherless shield gave rise to the expression “as bald as a coot,” which the Oxford English Dictionary cites in use as early as 1430. A shout out to Gibbon for hearing this one and sending it in.
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The buck stops at the top
Posted: May 18, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, Ginger Gibson, Hardball, humor, malaphor, malaphors, MSNBC, the buck stops here, Trump, words Leave a comment
The fish rots from the top
Posted: May 17, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: a fish rots from the head down, Chris Matthews, expressions, humor, malaphor, malaphors, top of the ladder, Trump, words Leave a comment‘The (new) Master” has spoken yet again. Chris Matthews uttered this mashup as he was discussing the Trump staffer who said about McCain, “he’s dying anyway”. This is a mix of the idioms “a fish rots from the head down” (when an organization fails, the chief executive is the root cause) and “top of the ladder (or food chain)” (the position of most importance). The “head” is certainly at the “top” of a person, which could have cause Mr. Matthew’s mental hiccup. This is one of many from his lips, so please loyal followers, watch Mr. Matthews with baited ears. A big thanks to Frank King for hearing this Matthewism and sending it in.
Retraction of “on the cards”
Posted: May 15, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment“On the cards” is a British expression meaning likely to happen (the British version of the American expression “in the cards”)- https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/on-the-cards
Bill Neely is Irish so it appears this was not an unintentional uttering. Thanks to Mario for pointing this out. Given the mistake, will there be anymore malaphors posted? It’s on the cards.
It was on the cards
Posted: May 14, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Bill Neely, expressions humor, in the cards, malaphor, malaphors, MSNBC, on deck, on the radar, Trump, words 3 CommentsMSNBC chief global correspondent Bill Neely uttered this one. He was talking about the recent release of the U.S. prisoners in North Korea and said that the release had been “on the cards” for awhile as they were moved to a hotel before release. This is a congruent conflation of “in the cards” and “on deck”, both meaning certain or likely to happen next. The mental mashup origin is clear in this one: the speaker probably was thinking “deck” which led him to “cards” as in “deck of cards”. Also in the mix might have been “on the radar” (considered important or noteworthy) considering the context. A big thanks to Bruce Ryan for hearing this one and sending it in!
We haven’t emptied all our cards
Posted: May 12, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: empty out, expressions, humor, language, Lawrence O'Donnell, malaphor, malaphors, Michael Avenatti, Michael Cohen, MSNBC, show one's cards, Trump, words Leave a commentThis was uttered by Michael Avenatti on the Lawrence O’Donnell MSNBC show when he was asked whether there will be any further disclosures regarding Michael Cohen. It is a mashup of “show (one’s) cards” (to make one’s plans or intentions known) and “empty (something) out” (to remove or pour all of the contents from something). Revealing and then emptying seems to be what he has done to date, so the malaphor makes sense. This is not the first malaphor uttered by Michael Avenatti. Check out some of his other great mashups, like “he folded like a cheap deck of cards”. A big thanks to Beatrice Zablocki for hearing this one. She’s a major contributor to this site. She’s the top of the notch!
The President needs to come straight with the American people
Posted: May 9, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: be straight, come clean, Eric Swalwell, expressions, humor, Lawrence O'Donnell, malaphor, malaphors, MSNBC, Trump, words Leave a commentThis malaphor was uttered by Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) on the MSNBC show The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell. It is a congruent conflation of “come clean” and “be straight” (be honest and straightforward). Kudos to that Malaphor Hunter Frank King, the Mental Health Comedian.
His job was running point for the White House
Posted: May 7, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, malaphor, malaphors, Rachel Maddow, run interference, Trump, Ty Cobb, walk point, words 2 CommentsRachel Maddow uttered this one the other night. Referring to Ty Cobb, Trump’s lawyer who resigned, said, “His job was running point for the White House on the Trump Russia investigation.” This is a mashup of the military expression “walk (or take) point” (to assume the first and most exposed position in a combat military formation) and “running interference” (to take actions to avoid or prevent certain problems). As the submitter said, if you ran point, you’d out distance yourself from the other troops, which is a bad idea. A big thanks to Frank King who heard this one and passed it on!
He’s a real blowhole
Posted: May 5, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: asshole, blowhard, expressions, humor, Kanye West, malaphor, malaphors, words 1 CommentThis descriptive malaphor was uttered by a friend describing Kanye West and his statement about 400 years of slavery. It is a mashup of “blowhard” (a braggart; big talker) and “asshole” (jerk). Blowhole has a nice rhyming ring to it, don’t you think? I wonder who else fits this description…. Knowing the speaker, she may have been recalling her visit to Hawaii when she said this. A big thanks to Leslie Geier for unintentionally blurting this one out and sharing it.
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