We stemmed that curve
Posted: July 10, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Chris Hayes, flatten the curve, humor, language, Lena Hidalgoo, malaphors, stem the tide, words Leave a comment
We turned the curve
Posted: July 1, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: ahead of the curve, Chris Hayes, expressions, flattened the curve, humor, Latoya Cantrell, malaphor, MSNBC, turned the corner, words Leave a commentLaToya Cantrell, mayor of New Orleans, was discussing police actions and public safety on the MSNBC show, “All In with Chris Hayes”. This is a mashup of “turned the corner” (begun to have improvement or success after a difficult or troubling period) and “ahead of the curve” (better than average). Both idioms are about success or improvement. Although the topic was not about the pandemic, “flatten the curve” (slowing down the spread of a disease) was probably on the speaker’s mind as well. A big thanks to Frank King for hearing this one. You can hear this malaphor at approximately 16 minutes into the show:
I’m worried stiff
Posted: February 4, 2019 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Chris Hayes, humor, language, malaphor, MSNBC, scared stiff, wordplay, worried sick Leave a commentHeard on the MSNBC show with Chris Hayes. This is a conflation of “scared stiff” (utterly terrified) and “worried sick” (very concerned about a person or situation). I have heard this one a lot. “Sick” and “stiff” are similar sounding words, contributing to the mashup. A big thanks to Frank King for hearing this one!
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We will be able to put all the dots in a row
Posted: December 6, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Chris Hayes, connect the dots, expressions, get your ducks in a row, humor, Jackie Speier, malaphor, malaphors, MSNBC, Mueller, Trump, wordplay, words Leave a commentJackie Speier (D-CA) uttered this nice malaphor on the All In with Chris Hayes show on MSNBC (11/28/18). Here is the context: “and I have no doubt in my mind that we will at some point, when the Mueller investigation is over, be able to put all the dots in a row and draw a line through them.” This is a congruent conflation of “get your ducks in a row” (organize your affairs) and “connect the dots” (to understand something by piecing together bits of information). “Dots” and “ducks” sound alike and the idea of connecting dots is similar to a row. A big thanks to Mike Kovacs for hearing this one.
The fish stinks from the head
Posted: August 26, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Barbara Boxer, Chris Hayes, expressions, humor, idioms, malaphor, MSNBC, stinks to high heaven, the fish rots from the head down, Trump, words 2 CommentsSenator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) uttered this on the Chris Hayes show (Ali Velshi filling in) the other night, referring to Trump. She said, “The Italians have an expression ‘the fish stinks from the head’.” Well, actually, the expression is “the fish rots from the head down”, meaning bad leaders damage an organization, and her comment mixes the idiom “stink to high heaven”, meaning to be or seem extremely corrupt or disreputable. Rotting sure gives off a stink so it is understandable that the speaker got confused. Another big thank you to Frank King, our MSNBC Malaphor Reporter.
Today he evened out the scales
Posted: August 15, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: balance the scales, Chris Hayes, even out, even the score, expressions, humor, Julia Ainsley, malaphors, Manafort, MSNBC, Trump, words Leave a commentThis was uttered by Julia Ainsley on MSNBC’s All In with Chris Hayes show. She was referring to Manafort’s lawyer cross-examining Rick Gates. It is a mashup of three idioms: “even out” (to make something more balanced), “even the score” (avenge a wrong), and “balance the scales” (to make even). A big thanks to Frank King for hearing this one and sending it in.
He passed every hurdle to receive asylum
Posted: July 11, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Chris Hayes, clear every hurdle, expressions, malaphor, MSNBC, pass every test, words Leave a commentThis was heard on the MSNBC Chris Hayes show. It is a nice congruent conflation of “cleared every hurdle” and “passed every test”. A big thanks to “Eagle-Ear” Frank King for hearing this one. He also mentioned that you don’t get credit for passing a hurdle, or for clearing a test. Word.
Let’s not get ahead of our skis
Posted: April 26, 2018 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: ahead of the curve, Chris Hayes, Cory Booker, expressions, humor, malaphor, MSNBC, out over his skis, Trump, words Leave a commentSenator Cory Booker uttered this malaphor on MSNBC’s The Chris Hayes Show. He was talking about the Mueller investigation:
“Um, look, I’m one of those folks that says let’s go where the evidence leads,” he said. “Right now we have a special counsel that is doing a thorough investigation. Let’s not get ahead of our skis. Let’s make sure we support this special counsel’s investigation.” https://www.mediaite.com/tv/chris-hayes-comes-right-out-and-asks-it-in-interview-with-cory-booker-is-trump-a-criminal/
This is a mixture of “out over his skis” (get ahead of yourself) and “ahead of the curve” (leading in something). The two phrases are close in meaning and are both referring to leading in front. It appears the phrase “out over your skis” originated in the finance world. See this article for more on the origin: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2012/05/where-did-the-phrase-over-his-skis-come-from.html
A big thanks to Frank King for hearing this one and passing it on!
The man is a nut cake
Posted: August 10, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Chris Hayes, Donald Trump, expressions, Gordon Humphrey, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, MSNBC, nutcase, nutty as a fruitcake, words Leave a commentOn MSNBC’s “All In with Chris Hayes” show last night, former New Hampshire Senator Gordon Humphrey (R-NH) said Trump is a “nut cake”. This is a congruent conflation of “nutcase” and “nutty as a fruitcake”, both obviously meaning to be crazy or insane. Here is an excerpt from the transcript, courtesy of Breitbart News (trying to stay apolitical here):
In the common parlance, the man is a nut cake, he is a looney bird. And it would be the height of irresponsibility to elevate him to the presidency. It would be recklessness to make him commander in chief. I’ve issued a call to members of the RNC this afternoon to demand an emergency meeting of the Republican National Committee to strip Donald Trump of the nomination and to replace him with someone of sound mind.
http://www.breitbart.com/video/2016/08/09/fmr-nh-senator-trump/
As followers know, malaphors are spoken by all, including Republicans and Democrats. Who can forget Obama’s excellent “my opponent would like you to think I am green behind the ears when it comes to foreign policy”, or Hillary Clinton’s recent “the creme de la resistance”? A big thanks to Sam Edelmann who heard this one and passed it on to Malaphor Central.
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