She’s trying to walk this needle
Posted: November 21, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Boston Globe, Chris Matthews, congruent conflation, expressions, humor, Kelly Ayotte, language, malaphor, malaphors, thread the needle, toe the line, walk a fine line, words Leave a commentThe election is over, but the malaphors continue to flood in. This one was heard on MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews. Discussing Kelly Ayotte’s (R-NH) response to the question of Donald Trump being a role model, James Pindell of the Boston Globe uttered this gem. It is a congruent conflation of “walk a thin (fine) line” and “thread the needle”, both meaning to skillfully navigate through a tough dilemma. “Toe the line” might also be in the mix, with the speaker thinking toes do the walking. A big thanks to Sally Adler for hearing this one and sending it in!
Give them a round of hand
Posted: November 3, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: congruent conflation, expressions, give a big hand, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, round of applause, words Leave a commentThis beauty was heard at a luncheon honoring university donors. The emcee asked the audience to give the honorees “a round of hand.” This is a congruent conflation of “round of applause” and “give them a (big) hand”, both meaning to have an audience give approval by clapping their hands. A round of ham or beef also comes to mind, so perhaps the emcee was hungry at that moment. A big round of hand to Martin Pietrucha for hearing this one and passing it on!
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If he doesn’t pass the mustard, then we aren’t promoting him
Posted: August 8, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: congruent conflation, cut the mustard, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, malaprop, pass muster, words Leave a commentSharing must be a really big deal at this company. I understand not passing ketchup is grounds for dismissal. Actually, this gem was uttered when discussing an internal candidate who applied for a promotion: “We can interview him, but if he doesn’t pass the mustard, then we aren’t promoting him.” This is a congruent conflation of “cut the mustard” and “pass muster”, both meaning to perform satisfactorily. At first this just appeared to be a malaprop (misusing a word, generally similar in sound) – mustard for muster – but on closer inspection it indeed is a mash up of two idioms, hence a very nice malaphor. A big thanks to Tiffany G. for hearing this one and passing it (and the condiment) on!
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We’re busted at the gills
Posted: August 5, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: burst, bursting at the seams, bust, congruent conflation, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, packed to the gills, property brothers, words 2 CommentsThis gem was heard on episode 600 of Property Brothers. One of the clients, describing the tight quarters, said that when they have friends over “we’re busted at the gills”. This is a congruent conflation of “packed (or full) to the gills” and “bursting at the seams”, both meaning to be extremely full or crowded with no room to spare. “Busted” is commonly misused for the word “bursted”, as in the song from Carousel, “June is busting out all over” (June wasn’t the name of the heroine, right?). A big thanks to the eagle eared prolific malaphor contributor Yvonne Stam for hearing this one and sending it in!
They need to get their act in order
Posted: July 17, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: congruent conflation, expressions, get your act together, get your house in order, humor, language, malaphor, words Leave a commentYours truly blurted this one out to my wife who immediately said “malaphor” and wrote it down. It’s a congruent conflation of “get your act together” and “put your house in order”, both meaning to get organized. “Together” and “in order” have the same number of letters and sound similar, probably contributing to the mash up. This is a timely malaphor considering the upcoming general election.
Hold your horses on
Posted: June 29, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: congruent conflation, expressions, hold your horses, humor, keep your britches on, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentThis is another “maraphor”. The speaker uttered this mix up, and then said, “I mean, keep your britches on.” This is a congruent conflation of “hold your horses” and “keep your britches (or pants) on”, both meaning to restrain yourself. Britches, or breeches, are pants used in riding horses so I can see where the speaker was confused. She probably visualized someone with breeches riding a horse. A big shout out to Marianne Julian who heard this and passed it on!
A lot of politicians are hemming around it
Posted: June 10, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: congruent conflation, dancing around an issue, expressions, hemming and hawing, huor, language, Leo Shane, malaphor, malaphors, Rachel Maddow, words Leave a commentOn the Rachel Maddow show, Leo Shane of the Military Times was commenting on the idea of doing away with the VA medical system. He said: “A lot of a politicians are hemming around it.” This is a nice congruent conflation of “hemming and hawing” and “dancing around (an issue)”, both meaning to avoid or skirt an issue or question. I am sure we will be seeing and hearing a lot of hemming around this political season. Kudos to Frank King for hearing this one and passing it on!
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We don’t want to get caught with our pants off
Posted: March 1, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: caught off guard, caught with our pants down, congruent conflation, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentMarykathryn strikes again! In preparing for a trial, she and her husband were discussing strategy and who was going to do what. She told him they had better really study the transcript from the Deposition and be prepared to catch the witness in any lies. He agreed. She then uttered, “Well after all, we do not want to get caught with our pants off.” This is a great congruent conflation of “caught off guard” and “caught with our pants down”, both meaning to be taken by surprise. This is an amusing mash up, for many reasons. First, it uses the word “off” in the wrong place. Adding to the confusion is the word “caught” found in both phrases. “Pants off” and “pants down” achieve the same purpose, so I can see why the speaker mixed up her idioms. Another shout out to Marykathryn Kopec for providing a great malaphor!
He bent over hoops for me
Posted: February 19, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bend over backwards, congruent conflation, humor, idioms, jump through hoops, language, malaphor, malaphors, words Leave a commentNow that’s impressive! This ditty was overheard at a benefits hearing where the claimant was referring to someone who was assisting her. It is a congruent conflation of “jump through hoops” and “bend over backwards”, both meaning to do everything possible to please someone or accomplish something. Bending over hoops is probably the ultimate in pleasing someone. The mix up is caused, I think, by the action words bend and jump, and by the similar meanings of the phrases. A shout out to Sam Edelmann who heard this one and passed it along.
I can do a pre-hearing statement off the fly
Posted: January 18, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: congruent conflation, expressions, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, off the cuff, on the fly, words Leave a commentThis beauty was spoken by a confident attorney prior to a hearing. It is a congruent conflation of “on the fly” and “off the cuff”, both meaning to do something quickly and without thinking carefully before they do it. Mixing “on” and “off” is certainly a part of this malaphor, and perhaps “fly” and “cuff”, as both can be articles of clothing? Using “off” instead of “on” actually makes more sense as an airplane “flies off” to somewhere. “Fly off” means to go in a hurry, similar to the meaning of this malaphor. The speaker perhaps just inverted the words “fly” and “off”. A big thanks to Sam Edelmann for hearing his one and passing it along.
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