That’s a burden off your plate
Posted: November 2, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, words 1 CommentThere was a conversation about relating a realtor’s suggestion that there is no need to do repairs on a house that was for sale and to “do nothing”. The response was “that’s a burden off your plate.” This is a congruent conflation of “weight/burden lifted off (one’s) shoulder” and “off (one’s) plate”, both meaning a situation or problem has been removed or finished. A tip of the hat to Donna Doblick for sending this one in.
Taking the world by the horns
Posted: October 26, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blended idioms, Dateline NBC, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words 2 CommentsThis one was heard on the podcast Dateline NBC, “The Betrayal of Kirby Carpenter at 00:01:54. This is a mashup of “taking the bull by the horns” (dealing with a difficult situation with confidence and in a very direct way) and “taking the world by storm” (quickly becoming extremely successful). It’s also the name for the semester abroad program at the University of Texas. Another big thanks to Frank King for spotting this one and sending it in.
Barking up the wrong hole
Posted: September 25, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: A Killer Story, blended idioms, expressions, HBO, humor, language, malaphors, words 1 CommentThis one was heard on the HBO series A Killer Story. In Episode 2 at 12:58 Jeffrey Sutton utters this nice malaphor. It is a congruent conflation of “barking up the wrong tree” and “down the rabbit hole”, both meaning to pursue a mistaken course of action. Another tip of the hat to Doug Pietrucha for hearing this one and sending it in.
Put in the shoulder grease
Posted: August 31, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, humor, idioms, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, words 3 CommentsA large, brass family heirloom was being restored, requiring a lot of physical effort, including polishing and rewiring. At some point, frustration set in, and this was said: “Well, I guess we just have to put in the shoulder grease to get this done.”
This is a conflation of several idioms, including “put in a good faith effort” (make a sincere attempt), “put your shoulder to the wheel” (make a sustained, concentrated effort), “use some elbow grease” (put in the hard work necessary), and maybe “grease the skids” (help prepare for or ease the way for the success). Then again, maybe shoulder grease is a little more effective than elbow grease. A big thanks to frequent contributor Verbatim for this multi-mixed malaphor.
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!
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