Fresh off the heels
Posted: June 15, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentA former couple were forced to inteact with each other soon after breaking up. The contributor’s wife said that they were fresh off the heels of their breakup. This is a mashup of “hot on the heels of” (to follow something closely) and “fresh off of/fresh out of” (immediately following a phase in one’s life, e.g. “fresh out of college”). Props to Peter H. for hearing this one and sending it in!
Good to know you are not on death’s bed
Posted: June 12, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentThis is another one overheard in a conversation. It is a congruent conflation of “at death’s door” and “on your death bed”, both describing someone very close to dying.
The origin of “on death’s door” goes back to the 1300s.
So! during the middle ages and beyond it was considered bad luck to take the corpse from a house using the main entrance. Seriously ill people or the recently departed were laid out in the front parlour. From here, there was a smaller door next to the front door that led into the street. It was through this which the dead person in their coffin could be passed.
Death’s door
These doors of the dead are easy to recognise as they are only half doors and were built with a stone ledge to support the coffin as it was removed from the house. The body could be balanced here while everything was made ready for their last journey.:
A big thank you to Martin Pietrucha for hearing this one and sending it in!
Get your head out of the gutter
Posted: June 8, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words 1 CommentThis was overheard in a conversation. It’s a mashup of “get your mind out of the gutter” (stop interpreting things in an obscene way) and “get your head out of your ass/the sand” (start paying more attention to what’s going on around you). A big thank you to Martin Pietrucha for hearing this one and sending it in!
When the shit hits the bed
Posted: May 29, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentAn employee was talking about an acquistion of a piece of equipment to displace an unreliable vendor. The speaker meant to say “when the shit hits the fan” but brought “bed” into the conversation. This is a mashup of “when the shit hits the fan” (a situation suddenly causes a lot of trouble for someone) and “he shit the bed” (to fail or completely mess up in a situation). It’s pretty obvious what word caused the mental mixup. This one reminds me of one of the Malaphors of the Year, “my old car shit the bucket”. https://malaphors.com/2019/01/18/my-old-car-shit-the-bucket/ A big thank you to Sandor Kovacs for hearing this one and sending it in.
Let me run this up the ladder
Posted: May 9, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, words 2 CommentsThis was a response to a suggestion given in an email. It is a mashup of “run this up the flagpole” (to present an idea to supervisors or stakeholders to get their reaction) and “climb (up) the (corporate) ladder” (advance one’s career through hard work). My guess is that the mixup occurred with the word “run” as it may have prompted the mind to think of “rung” and hence the word “ladder” for “flagpole”. A big shout out to Susan Edwards for spotting this one and sending it in.
Our wishes have been answered
Posted: March 30, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, Josh Getzoff, language, malaphors, Pittsburgh Penguins, words 1 CommentDuring a Pittsburgh Penguins pre-game show, Josh Getzoff uttered this nice congruent conflation of “our prayers have been answered” and “our wishes have been granted”, both phrases confirming that a request has been fulfilled. Props to Steve Kovacs for hearing this subtle malaphor and sending it in!
sent on a false goose chase
Posted: January 9, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentA friend was accidentally given some incorrect information for something he was trying to look up. This caused him to waste time researching in the wrong direction. When he realized he had been given the wrong info, he commented that he was sent on a “false goose chase”. This is a mashup of “wild goose chase” (a hopeless pursuit of something unattainable) and I think, because of the failure to secure the correct information, “false start” (an unsuccessful attempt to begin something). “False flag” (a political or military act done in such a way to appear it was carried out by a party that was actually not responsible) and “false alarm” (unnecessary or unfounded warning) might also be in the mix. A big thank you to Verbatim for hearing this one and sending it in.
That blew my mind away
Posted: December 13, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, words 1 CommentIn a conversation, the contributor told a friend a crazy piece of trivia he had never heard before, and he was shocked. This is a congruent conflation of “blew my mind” and “blew me away”, both meaning to surprise someone thoroughly. This one reminds me of a previous malaphor I posted, “it blew our socks off”. https://malaphors.com/2015/07/30/it-blew-our-socks-off/ Some may remember the tagline to a Burger King seven inch burger, “It will blow your mind away”. Apparently some thought it racy and the model who appears in the poster apparently called for a boycott. https://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/model-calls-for-a-burger-king-boycott-after-she-was-featured-in-a-sexually-suggestive-ad
A thank you to regular malaphor contributor Verbatim for sending this one in!
We are flying without a net
Posted: December 8, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, words 5 CommentsThis was heard in a conversation about medical treatment without data to rely on. It is a mix of “flying blind” (working on intuition or guesswork instead of data) and “working without a net” (to take action that is risky or otherwise does not provide safety). Almost a congruent conflation but not quite, but both idioms involve working without any certainty. The speaker may have been thinking of flying acrobats with no net underneath. A big thanks to Tom Justice for sending this one in!
There’s a disturbance in the matrix
Posted: October 1, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: A disturbance in the force, blended idioms, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, The Matrix, words Leave a commentThis one was overheard in a conversation between a waitress and a customer. Perhaps one might overlook this jumbled phrase if one was not familiar with syfy, but our contributor, Dave Nemcsik recognized the malaphor. It is a mashup of “a disturbance in the Force” (said by Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: A New Hope) and “a glitch in the Matrix” (discussed in The Matrix). Kudos to Dave Nemcsik for hearing this one and sending it in!
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