That’s a real ball of worms
Posted: December 18, 2012 Filed under: ANIMALS, THINGS, wax, worms | Tags: ball of wax, blended idioms, can of worms, expressions, malaphors, mixed idioms, words 1 Comment
worms (Photo credit: Wahj)
This is a mash-up of “can of worms” (a situation which causes difficulty when starting to deal with it) and “the whole ball of wax” (everything). The mix up may have been caused by the words worms and wax, both starting with w, and that both idioms have the preposition “of” in them. In addition, the context was an administrative hearing where the speaker was describing his home life, indicating that everything was a mess, hence the conflation of the two phrases.
We went to Buckminster Palace
Posted: December 17, 2012 Filed under: Buckingham Palace, PLACES, Westminster Abbey, WORD BLENDS | Tags: blended idioms, buckingham palace, buckminster fuller, expressions, malaphors, mixed idioms, westminster abbey, words 7 CommentsThis malaphor is a word blend, as distinguished from the other malaphors posted up to this point, which are phrase blends. This is a mixture of Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey. Both are, of course, famous places in London, hence the unintentional misuse. Buckminster Fuller might also be in the mix, although “my ‘ol pal” pointed out that many have never heard of him. Still, you never know what the brain may have picked up and deposited in the unconscious.
This mash up has apparently been used a lot, given the number of google hits. It even appears in ads by travel agents.
It’s just a drop in the hat
Posted: December 16, 2012 Filed under: ACTION, CLOTHING | Tags: a drop in the bucket, at the drop of a hat, blended idioms, buckethead, conflations, expressions, malaphors, mixed idioms, words 1 CommentThis may be the mother of all malaphors, given the amount of hits on google where writers unintentionally use this blended idiom when they meant to say “drop in the bucket”. This of course is a mash up of “a drop in the bucket” (an insignificant contribution to a larger problem) and “at the drop of a hat” (immediately), two distinctively different idioms. The confusion lies in the use of the two articles the and a, the two prepositions in and of, and also the words bucket and hat, both containers. Actually, buckets are sometimes used for hats, as in the case of the guitarist Buckethead.
English: Buckethead in concert at Neumos in Seattle. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
That’s on the top of my mind
Posted: December 14, 2012 Filed under: BODY PARTS | Tags: blended idioms, conflation, expressions, malaphors, mixed idioms, on my mind, top of my head, words 1 CommentThis is a mash up of “off the top of my head” (saying something without putting much thought in it) and “on my mind” (currently being thought of). Thanks to Katie Hatfield for sending me this one!
We’ve got a lot of irons in the pipeline
Posted: December 13, 2012 Filed under: fire, pipeline, THINGS | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, in the pipeline, irons in the fire, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentThis is a conflation of “in the pipeline” (plan being developed) and “irons in the fire” ( a number of jobs or possibilities available at the same time). I saw this in a memo years ago. As with most great unintentional malaphors, if you heard this at a meeting it might give you slight pause but it fits in the context so you probably would not remember it minutes later.
Another bite at the cherry
Posted: December 12, 2012 Filed under: ACTION, apple, bite, cherry, FOOD | Tags: apple, basketball, blended idioms, cherry, cherry picking, expressions, malaphors, mixed idioms, washington wizards, words Leave a commentThis malaphor was heard last night by Mike Browning while listening to a Washington Wizards basketball game. The play by play announcer, Dave Johnson, said this: “… Crawford grabs the rebound, and the Wizards get another bite at the cherry.” Given the context, this is a mash up of “another bite at the apple” and “cherry-picking”, the latter a term used in basketball. “A bite of the cherry” is apparently an Australian and British expression meaning “being a part of something good”, but I don’t think Dave Johnson is Australian or British.
He is the top of the notch
Posted: December 11, 2012 Filed under: THINGS | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, malaphors, mixed idioms, top dog, top notch, top of the heap, words Leave a commentThis one reminds me of “cream of the cake”. The Master actually uttered this gem, which is a mixture of “top notch” and probably “top of the heap” or possibly “top dog”, all meaning the best. It is also the name of a restaurant on top of Mt. Baldy near Los Angeles.
He took the thunder out of my sails
Posted: December 10, 2012 Filed under: sails, THINGS, thunder | Tags: blended idioms, expressions, malaphors, mixed idioms, steal his thunder, thunder, wind, wind out of my sailsd, words Leave a commentThis is a mash up of “wind out of my sails”(someone’s boasting or arrogance is challenged) and “steal his thunder” (to lessen someone’s authority or force). Apparently this speaker’s arrogance and power were both taken away. I have also heard the malaphor “took the air out of my sails”, indicating weather mix-ups are a common occurrence.
They dug their own snare
Posted: December 9, 2012 Filed under: ACTION, grave, PLACES, snare | Tags: alan simpson, blended idioms, dug their own grave, expressions, malaphors, mixed idioms, snare, today show, words Leave a commentThis conflation of “dug their own grave” and “caught in a snare” was spoken by former U.S. Senator Alan Simpson on the Today show last week, referring to Congress and the President not acting yet on the approaching fiscal cliff. Thank you to my old friend Dave Thorp for spotting this one.
That was a breath of relief!
Posted: December 8, 2012 Filed under: ACTION, breathe, THINGS | Tags: blended idioms, breath of fresh air, breathe a sigh of relief, expressions, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a comment
Cover via Amazon
This apparently common mash-up (hundreds of hits on google) of “breathe a sigh of relief” and “breath of fresh air” was found in the Michigan Quarterly article referred in “Articles” on my website and also in Michael Erard’s book, “Um. . .: Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean.”
Malaphors 
Recent Comments